Trying to understand all the runners terminology and lingo can be confusing and take time to understand. This can especially be obvious if you’re running with a group, such as a club or using an online running coach. To help your knowledge read some of the most common terms below.
Basic Runners Terminology
- Form: How you position and hold your body while running. Good form is essential to avoiding injuries and getting faster. The basic tenets are all about “running tall:” Keep your head up, shoulders down, lean slightly forward, and keep your feet under your body (rather than over-striding).
- Pace: How fast you’re running, usually expressed in terms of minutes per mile (or kilometres). When you’re just starting out, don’t get too caught up in the numbers; just know that your pace on different runs is a helpful indicator of your effort on those runs.
- Cadence: The number of steps you take per minute while running. Several things can influence this, such as height, weight, stride, and experience. Frequent runners typically take around 160-170 steps a minute, while elite runners take it up to 180.
- Strides: The name for the steps you take while running.
- Warmups and cooldowns: Don’t sprint straight out the door to start your run, or straight into the shower to end it. All of your runs should start with a warmup to prepare your muscles, and end with a cooldown to help promote recovery.
- Cross-training: Workouts that aren’t running, like swimming or rowing.
- Rest days: Give your body a chance to recover and help prevent injury by taking a break from exercise once every week or so. Don’t run on your rest days.
- Easy run: Around 80-90% of all your training should be made up of easy runs. How to know if you’re running slow enough? If you can’t hold a conversation while doing one of these, you’re going too fast.
- Junk miles: Some people use “junk miles” a little differently, but generally, they refer to “wasteful” extra running outside of what your training plan recommends. You’ll hear about these after learning to run your easy days easy and your hard days hard; junk miles are the in-between, always-moderate training that doesn’t reap as many rewards.
- Speed-work: Pretty much exactly what it sounds like: runs that are focused on improving your speed. Think different kinds of sprint workouts and tempo runs.
- Intervals: Runs that alternate between high and low intensity (speeds).
- Fartleks: A fartlek translates to “speed play” in Swedish. Fartleks are beginner-friendly interval runs that are mostly an easy pace broken up by quick bursts of sprinting.
- Tempo run: These are a tougher form of speed training. Runners challenge themselves to hold a “threshold” (or comfortably difficult) pace for a certain period of time in the middle of their run.
- Hill work/repeats/sprints: Hell. Good hell. These drills have you running at a hard effort (think 5k race pace) up a hill, and then recovering on the run down. Over and over and over.
- Pick-ups: Quick bursts of increased speed in an existing run.
- Splits: The time it takes to complete a specific distance. Even splits refer to running the whole race at the same pace. A negative split means you ran the second half faster than the first. Depending on the layout of the course, a negative split is a goal for many runners.
- Taper: The art of reducing exercise in the days or weeks before a big race.
Runners Terminology about your body
- Endurance: The body’s ability to sustain running for long periods of time. Endurance training is how you gradually increase distance and speed. This is about building up your physical stamina, as well as mental strength.
- Lactic acid: Formed when your body can’t generate energy using oxygen, lactic acid is produced anaerobically. The more intense the run, the more lactic acid we create. Despite its reputation as the culprit for soreness and slowing down, lactic acid itself isn’t responsible for your muscle fatigue.
- Anaerobic threshold: Also known as the lactate inflection point, this is the point in intensity where lactic acid begins to build up in your muscles and bloodstream. Running here should be a challenge, but not uncomfortable.
- VO2 max: Also known as aerobic capacity, this is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. As your aerobic capacity increases, you will be able to run faster and further.
- Pronation: If you’ve ever been fitted for a running shoe, you’ve probably heard about your pronation. It refers to the way the foot strikes the ground while running. If someone is an “overpronator,” their foot rolls inward while running. Landing on the outer edge of your foot might mean you’re an “underpronator.” Check your shoes for where exactly they’ve worn down in order to determine how your foot strikes the ground.
- Chafing: Break out the Vaseline or Bodyglide to avoid chafing.
- Shin splints: Pain on or around your shinbones. Don’t ignore shin splints: Treat with ice and rest, and maybe consider buying some new running shoes.
- Plantar fasciitis: Self-diagnosed by many a runner with pain and stiffness around the heel. Not just reserved for runners, this is inflammation of the bottom of the foot due to overuse. It can usually be treated with rest, ice, and stretching; unfortunately, most runners will tell you that they’re simply keeping it under control and that there’s no one “cure.”
- Runner’s knee: This is pain isolated on or around the kneecap. Also called Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), this feels like the knee is “giving out.”
- Black toenails: Discolored toenails on runners are a result of impact and pressure on the toe. This is assuming they hang on and don’t fall off the foot altogether.
- Ice baths: Somewhat controversial, some athletes believe ice baths may reduce inflammation and promote recovery.
Running Acronyms
- BPM: Beats per minute, or heart rate. Runners will often have a target BPM for a workout. Here’s how to find your target heart rate zones.
- CR: Course record, or a runner’s fastest time on a given course.
- PR: Personal record, or one’s fastest time for a given distance.
- PB: Personal best. Or peanut butter. Use context.
- DNS/DNF: Did not start/did not finish. Either will appear in race results when a runner did not start or finish the race.
- DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. If you struggle walking down stairs the days after an intense run, blame DOMS. Bring out the Epsom salts and foam rollers.
- ITBS: Iliotibial Band Syndrome. This injury occurs when your connective tissue rubs against your thighbone. Try stretching, massaging, and foam rolling.
Thank you for reading this post on runners terminology, see other posts such as beginning tips.
