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Heels and Hills Dictionary of Running and Walking Terms
Active Recovery - a method for improving running performance. Read up about it on Nike's website... Bandit - an individual who runs a race without registering for it. Bodyglide - a brand but also a phrase used to describe any anti-chafing stick. The product can be used anywhere on the body that a runner and walker typically falls victim to chafing from repetitive motion. Click here to visit Bodyglide's website... Chub Rub - an uncomfortable term one may use to refer to chafing they are experiencing from running or walking. Compression socks - worn by athletes to aid in recovery during or post-run, here's an article explaining the rationale behind the product... Fartlek - Although it's a term that makes a lot of folks giggle, it actually means "speed play" in Swedish. Not having a rigid definition in frequency or pace, the idea is that you run faster for whatever segment of time you want to and is repeated as many times as desired during the run. Many great athletes do their speed training this way. More info... Fuel Belt - a brand but also a phrase used by many to mean any hydration pack worn around the waist. Garmin - While Garmin makes GPS devices for your car and your boat, runners and walkers often use the brand name interchangeably with any GPS device that can be worn on the body. The advantage over a regular stop watch is that a runner's distance and elevation change can be measured also. "A Half" - Non-runners ask "Half of what?" Most distance runners and walkers know that this phrase is normally an abbreviation for a half-marathon, which is a set distance of half the length of a marathon. Hitting the Wall, or Bonking - Many marathoners have hit this total loss of energy about 20-22 miles into the race. More info and how to work to avoid it here... HR - quote from one H&H fan, Patty Cartwright, "having to do with heart rate, not human resources". There are many associated acronyms - MHR (Maximum Heart Rate), RHR (Resting Heart Rate), THR (Target Heart Rate), HRM (Heart Rate Monitor). Hyponatremia - while newer runners hear about cases of dehydration at races, there is also those who develop hyponatremia while running or racing. This occurs when overhydration happens and you are drinking more fluids than you are excreting through sweat, resulting in lower sodium levels in the blood. Read up on the condition and how to prevent it here... ITB Syndrome - quote from one H&H fan, Ryan Burns: "While there is a difference between IB (Irritable Bowel) Syndrome and ITB (Iliotibial Band) Syndrome, both will keep you from running." Your iliotibial band is a piece of tissue running along your outer thigh that when inflamed can present itself as knee pain since the ITB stabilizes the knee joint. If you are having pain, always seek help from a medical professional! Runners World has an article about how to rehab an ITBS injury... Lactate Threshold (LT) - When you are running, your body is consuming oxygen and outputting lactic acid. At lower intensities, your body is able to clear out all the lactic acid while you are still exercising. But above a certain level, your Lactate Threshold, your body can't clear out all the lactic acid which causes it to start to build up in the muscles, which can result in a burning feeling and stiffness in your muscles. Some athletes train at or above their threshold in order to improve their performance. Here is an article from Runner's World about this called "Beyond the Burn"... LSD - Not a drug in the running community, it refers to "Long Slow Distance". This is a training method employed for gaining distance in longer runs in preparation for a long distance race. See more here... Marathon - Several Facebook fans would like to remind non-runners in their life that a marathon is NOT the phrase for a race of any distance. A marathon is actually 42.195 kilometers, or basically 26.2 miles. Until 1908, the marathon was actually an arbitrary distance in the Olympics but always around 40 kilometers. Read about the history of the marathon and how it ended up being the length it is now set at... Master - runner over the age of 40. Negative Splits - running the second half of a distance faster than the first half. An article on how to capture negative splits here... Nip guards - If you have ever seen a male runner in a white running shirt crossing a finish line with two trails of blood down his front, this is the product they need! Some men can have chafing occur on their nipples during running, and Nip Guards is one product some use to help prevent this. "On Your Left" - used by runners or cyclists passing someone. The individual passing is the one on the left, so if you hear this, you should move to the RIGHT. Out-and-Back Course - a course where you run a route and then u-turn and reverse that same exact route back to your start position. Paces (goal pace, projected pace, race pace) - speed in minutes per mile typically, but for track work can be in hundreds of meters. Runners love to talk about their pace on their runs! PF, Plantar Fasciitis - The more common cause of localized heel pain in runners and generally a "popular" injury with runners. The plantar fascia is a large tissue in the foot that supports the arch and other important pieces of the foot's structure, and plantar fasciitis is inflammation in that tissue. If you are having pain, always seek help from a medical professional! Great article from the Road Runners Club of America that includes stretching exercises... Piriformis Syndrome - literally a pain in the butt for many runners. The piriformis muscle is located in the pelvic region and when it becomes inflamed, it can sideline a runner. If you are having pain, always seek help from a medical professional! Here's an article on the prevention and treatment of piriformis syndrome in runners... PR - Personal Record. A very popular term in the running and walking community. Also called "PB" or Personal Best. You can have multiple PRs, one for each race distance that's important to you - standard ones are often for 1 mile, 5K, 10K, 15K, Half Marathon, and Full Marathon. Pronation/Over-Pronation/Under-Pronation (Supination) - ways to describe a foot in motion. Over and under-pronating are biomechanical problems that can lead to injury in a runner. Here's an article put together by New Balance that has a couple good diagrams... Rate of Gastric Emptying - Describes how quickly food leaves your stomach. And an important topic for a runner who has ever found themselves in digestively dangerous territory. Here are some thoughts from a sports dietitician to help ensure you make it through your run with no "upsets"... RICE - A way to treat an injury that has already happened, it stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Here's a quick summary of each piece from RoadRunner Sports... Snot Rocket - unfortunately used by some congested athletes, it's the process of using your fingers to plug one nostril while blowing hard out of the other nostril. In a crowded race situation, steer clear of the individual employing this method! Taper - the process of cutting back on running in the time before a race so that your body is rested and ready for event day. Here's a list of 12 tips on how to taper... Technical shirt - shirts favored by runners. These are made by all the major running brands and are of a non-cotton, synthetic material that is good for wicking away moisture from the body while the runner or walker is sweating. Leads to another term, "dry-wicking", often used to describe the fabric. Tempo Run - a style of run incorporated into portions of many athletes' training schedules to improve running performance. Here's a Runner's World article about why a Tempo Run can help, if done properly of course... Timing Chips, Chip Tent - one H&H fan, Catherine Burdette, comments: "I remember learning that the chip tent did not stock Fritos or Doritos." When you hear the word chip in races, it more often than not is referring to the timing of the race, not a food staple! Timing chips are how a majority of races today are timed. They are RFID chips that are read by timing mats at the start line, finish line, and sometimes at positions on a race course. The advantage to chip timing is that you don't have to fight everyone to lunge across the start line when the gun goes off, because the chip will capture your actual start time. Brands of timing chips you may hear about include ChampionChip, Chronotrack, and IPICO. Ultra - Called an "ultra" for short, ultramarathons basically refer to any race longer than a marathon (42.195 km or approx. 26.2 miles). They are often in the range of 30 miles to 150 miles, and the popular distances, both for races and for runners new to trying an ultra, is a 50K (approx. 31 miles) or a 50-miler.
Last revised October 21, 2009 |
Inspired by a list developed by our Heels and Hills followers on the Heels and Hills Facebook fan page, here's an abridged dictionary of terminology and acronyms. We hope this helps neophytes in the sport of running and walking - these terms were new to all of us at one point when we were getting started too! If you have one to add, All Rights Reserved.