Did Cooper's Test

10:58 PM

I'm not sure what compelled me to do it, but I did Cooper's Test this morning. I started walking to the park and arrived there a bit before 6 AM. The cyclist was there as always, seemingly wearing the same exact outfit as always, all black with reflective "suspenders". He is the only other consistent person that makes laps around the park like me. Today there were two other joggers who came into the park, one was a woman, the other was a man. The man went to the baseball field right away so I only saw him jogging for a quarter circle. The woman jogged one lap and then walked another lap. There were also some other workers that are always there, and some dog walkers.

I did Cooper's Test prior to either of the other two joggers arriving. I jogged one lap around the park, and then I did Cooper's Test, which is to just run as far as you can in 12 minutes. My distance was abysmal. I ran 1.15 miles in 12 minutes, which is extremely slow. For my age of 32, and using a Cooper's Test calculator online, my VO2Max is only 30.1 or so. Those are literally the only two variables you need to calculate your VO2Max using Cooper's Test, just your age and the distance you can run in 12 minutes.

My Apple Watch still estimates my VO2Max to be around 37-38, it does not realize that I am putting in all my effort into running for 12 minutes. My heart rate did not go above 180 however. I maintained an average of 171 BPM. I didn't sprint, because I realized it's not a good strategy when the aim is running for 12 minutes straight. I couldn't sprint at the end either because I was already beat. After walking for a lap, I ran another mile, and then walked home.

What may have hurt my score is that I jogged for a lap, half a mile, prior to starting Cooper's Test. I ran at roughly zone 3 (150bpm), for this lap, and I ran it at a below 12-minute mile pace. I'm not really sure what people do prior to starting Cooper's Test. Maybe they just drive to a place, or are dropped off, and walk for a bit and warm up before starting. I ran half a mile first, which for someone with a low fitness level already, might greatly affect their Cooper Test time.

But yeah what I realized from this is that I am extremely slow and my VO2Max is extremely low. Until I can drop my weight from being overweight, my fitness will be low. I actually also jogged a handful of times when I was below 170 pounds, although my times were still abysmal, I could run a mile under 9 minutes. Now I haven't yet been able to run a mile under 10 minutes.