Running Term Cheat Sheet

I mentioned in my Febuary 12th post—"Stuck In A Rut"—that varying the intensity of your runs during the week would help improve your speed and endurance. If you were like me when I first started running, you probably felt a little lost from all the running terms and were hesitant to ask the more experienced runners you knew what the heck they all meant. Took me a while to get up to speed, but I finally became running-term literate. Hears a little cheat sheet to help you out if you need it. Keep checking the blog. Additional cheat sheets will be posted in the coming weeks.

Runner's Cheat Sheet #1: Training Terms

• Easy Run—a slow run done at a conversational pace

• Fartlek—a Swedish word for speedplay; workout includes faster running mixed with slower running; can be done in any setting—track, trail, or road

• Repeats or Intervals—type of workout where a set distance is run repeatedly with a recovery jog between; for example 6 times 400 meters with 100 meters recovery jog; typically done on a track

• Speed Work—short, fast intervals with recovery jogs between; increases your leg turnover and maximizes your stamina and race confidence

• Tempo Runs—workouts where you run at a steady pace that is around 70% to 80% of your max aerobic capacity; near race pace, but not race pace

• Hills—workouts where a runner runs up a hill fast and jogs down then runs up again; helps develop leg power and aerobic capacity

• Long Runs—longest run of the week; usually on the weekend

• Recovery Runs—slow to moderate running to recover from hard workouts or races and/or maintain aerobic conditioning

• Cross-Training—low- or no-impact activities such as swimming, cycling, and using the eliptical at the gym that increase conditioning

• Pace—the measure of the speed of running; usually quantified as minutes taken to run a mile; for example a runner may run a 7:00 per mile pace for a marathon

• PR—Personal Record or Personal Best; fastest time a runner has run for a given distance

• Junk Miles—runs used to reach a weekly or monthly mileage total rather than for a specific benefit