Getting through the running jargon

A new runner can easily get lost in the maze of running terminology in the numerous running blogs and articles that flood the worldwide web.

Runbritain.com perhaps best describes the predicament a new runner faces in encountering all those training terms from intervals to fartlek to splits, not to mention the various abbreviations like AT (anaerobic threshold), PB (personal best) and PR (personal record), and LSD (long slow distance).

"The terminology used to describe this fit and healthy form of exercise may at first come across as if it's a foreign language," the running site says. "Whether it's a term used to refer to an injury or a description of a type of running training, the language used to describe running can be difficult to understand."

Runbritain.com has a glossary of frequently used running terms which would definitely help a new runner with the jargon.

Hillrunner.com also has a compilation of running terms. The list mainly includes training terminology.

The list I enjoyed going through the most, though, is that of the Tahoe Mountain Milers Running Club. Taken from the 1997 Royal Renegade Runners Revised Reference Guide compiled by Laura Kulsik, Past RRCA Western Regional Director, as acknowledged at the TMMRC website, the list gives a tongue-in-cheek definition of running terms including some race jargon.

Here are some that made me giggle.

Achilles Tendinitis: the Greek God of running injuries.

Bandit: cheapskate, "Can you believe he ran that race without paying the registration fee?!!"

Blade Runner: a runner who is as skinny as a blade of grass.

Carbo load: a garbage truck full of bread and 6" pasta.

Fartlek, (1): speed work after a meal of refried beans.

Fartlek, (2): When a runner increases his or her pace sufficiently enough to put adequate distance between themselves and the rest of the group so they can take a quick pottie break before the group catches up. "There goes Jim on another Fartlek!" (TMMRC) 

Gel: something in your running shoe or your hair; both of which are supposed to make you run faster.

Glycogen stores: stores where you can get a limited supply of fuel before you have to visit the fat stores.

Plantar Fasciitis: a Latin derivative for doing a face plant on a trail run.

Pronate: 1. Podiatrists say 90% of the running population overpronates; the other 10% stagnate. 2. What the shoe guy says you have and then you have to pay an extra 5 bucks for your running shoes.