So, you're suggesting we discontinue the discussion, but then ask two more questions?;)
Well, the reason I asked what your point of reference was for "max", it could be just about anything. If you take a max vertial jump, or a max 200 m, or a max 1500 m, or a max 10k or a max marathon; they can all be max references. If anyone of them is truly maximal, they probably cannot be repeated in the same session or even on the same day. So, any effort could be a max effort reference, but I would typically think of the 1500 or maybe the 800 as the max effort reference for aerobic activity.
In your example of the 3000 m, I presume you are referring to your *perception* of working/not working. By that I mean, you are likely running the first 800 at the ave pace for the entire race or close to it, so, your worklevel has not really changed over the course of the race, just your perception of it, right? Of course this is primarily because much of our perception of effort is a feedback response that comes from the periphery and it takes time for metabolites to accumulate in the periphery to the extent that makes the effort feel "hard". Of course that would be a "peripheralist's" point of view;)
Steve