Last week I had a VO2Max test done. It was an opportunity to do it for free, so I gave it a shot. They did what they called a "submax" test, in which I ran on a treadmill about 12 minutes, and this gave an estimated VO2Max. In other words, they didn't give me the "Max" test in which I would run to failure.
The score they gave me was 74.1. What I'm wondering is how accurate these things are. Obviously, running performance has a lot of different factors, but from what I hear this score sounds a little high. Someone told me guys like Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers had scores around the 70s.
I am certainly not a great runner, though I'm improving. I recently PR-ed in the Half Marathon at 1:32:15 and my recent best 5k was 19:17. For runners of my weight (and, well, gut size) I probably am really good (32yo, 5'11", 190lbs), but by no means am I an amazing athlete.
If I take the test again, would I be likely to find a drastically different score? Or is this just evidence that I might've been pretty good if I had chosen to work hard and be a competitive runner when I was young?