The Language of Running

[Sandy]

The Running and Racing Report

     Every athletic group has its own terminology from hockey with hat tricks, volleyball with campfire and curling with hurry hard.  Running is no different.  If you are new to the sport the following will help you feel more like a "runner".
     Aerobic/anaerobic:  These are the two ways you produce energy to move from one place to another.  Aerobic means with oxygen which indicates easier work that you can sustain for a long period of time, and allows the body to tap into fat stores.  Anaerobic means without oxygen, short duration and uses carbohydrates only.
     Blood Lactate:  Lactate is a bi-product of energy metabolism and occurs at all intensity levels.  At low energy output we recycle lactate in the blood to make more energy.  As intensity levels rise we become less efficient at recycling lactate and it begins to accumulate in the blood.  Once the production rate exceeds removal rate you have reached lactate threshold.
     Fartlek:  A Swedish term meaning speed play.  Fartlek is used to describe loosely organized speed workouts, the type where you go out on the road and run hard from this mailbox to that tree down the road, then recover to the next intersection and so on.
     Strides:   This is a type of speed workout.  Specifically, strides are short bursts of speed of a pace roughly equal to what one could run in a mile race and of duration ranging from around 10 seconds to 30 seconds, give or take.  These are good for improving one's form and developing top end speed.
     Tempo Run:  According to Jack Daniels, Ph.D., a tempo run is 20 minutes of steady running at threshold pace which is the effort level just below the body's ability to clear lactate (see above); about 25 to 30 seconds per mile slower than 5K race pace.
     Bandit:  Someone who runs a race without registering, paying a race entry fee or wearing a race number.
     Newbie:  Someone new to an activity.  This is not a derogatory term like plebe but rather a rite of passage.
     Bonk:  When one is lacking in fuel and feels weak during a long run.
     Long Run:  Used to signify a run, usually done on the weekend; that is the longest of the week.  In many cases, it is significantly longer than the typical run, often adding up to 20-25% of the runner's weekly miles.  Never increase your long run by more than 10% per week.
     PR and/or PB:  Personal record or personal best which indicates you have completed a race faster than you have before.
     DNF:  Did not finish.  You started the race but were unable to finish for any reason.
     DNS:  Did not start.  You registered for a race but were unable to make it to the start line for any reason.
     Endorphins:  Neurotransmitters produced in the brain that reduce pain and are responsible for that sense of euphoria you get after a particularly intense workout, or a long run.

     

[Bob]

Thanks Sandy,

This is embarrassing, but the first time I came across PB in an article, while a NEWBIE (not long ago), I thought it meant pee break or especially the more impolite term for this.  The articles would say stuff like "I had a PB in my last marathon, and my time was 3:45" or whatever.  It seems so obvious now, but the first time I picked up a running magazine it wasn't so obvious, so thanks for posts like yours.   

Bob