A glossary of running

This is my take on popular (and perhaps not-so-popular) running terminology. If there’s a term that you’ve come across and it’s not in here, let me know and I’ll try to add it in.

Aerobic

Literally ‘with oxygen’. Running aerobically means that your muscles are getting enough oxygen to function normally and maintain your effort.

Aerobic threshold

The onset of lactate accumulation in your blood as a result of sustained effort. Provided that the effort is not increased too much, it’s possible to keep at this level without going into the lactate threshold. This typically corresponds to marathon pace.

Anaerobic

Literally ‘without oxygen’. The point at which the body starts to produce lactic acid a lot faster than it can be removed, leading to fatigue and a decline in performance.

Base miles

Easy pace running commonly done at the start of or before a training block with the aim of giving you a foundation on which to build your endurance and speed.

Bonking

Also known as ‘hitting the wall’, this is the result of having depleted your glycogen stores while the body is unsuccessful in using your other main energy supply, fat. This will lead to the quick onset of fatigue and declining performance.

Cool down

The reduction of effort before the conclusion of a run, aiming to lower your heart rate and allow you to transition to post-exercise.

DOMS

Delayed onset muscle soreness, the intense fatigue that you feel in the days following a hard workout. Especially common when adapting to strength training.

Drop (heel-toe drop)

The difference in height between the heel and toe of a running shoe. Most shoes tend to be between 8-10mm, however more minimal drops are available, including zero drop by niche brands such as Altra.

Dynamic stretching

Performing stretches while moving at the same time. These are preferable as part of the warm up to the opposite, which is static stretching. Examples of dynamic stretches include lunges, squats and calf raises.

Electrolytes

Salts and minerals, such as sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonate, which are found in the blood. When we sweat, the loss of electrolytes can bring upon a sharp decline in performance. During hard efforts or hot weather where you sweat more, drinking water alone won’t be enough to rehydrate, you also need to replenish electrolytes. You can do this in the form of tablets or even just dissolving some salt in your water.

Fartlek

Taken from Swedish, literally meaning ‘speedplay’. It involves changes of pace to include periods of faster running with periods of more steady pace. A popular example of this is the Mona Fartlek, but fartleks can also be unstructured and run on feel.

Glycogen

The form that carbohydrates are stored in the body, either in the liver or the muscles. When we ‘carb load’ for marathons, it’s the increase in the total amount of stored glycogen which we are trying to achieve.

Interval training

Running faster paces for shorter durations, followed by recovery periods which may involve jogging, walking, or altogether rest.

Lactate threshold

The point at which, due to intense effort, lactate is accumulating in your blood and will eventually cause you to fatigue. Most athletes can sustain this for 40-60 minutes, which for amateurs is 10k but elites can go up to half marathon. Otherwise known as LT2.

Microcycle

How a training plan is divided up, normally into single weeks (e.g. a 12-week training plan could be 12 x 1 week microcycles). 8, 9, 10, 14 and 21-day microcycles are also common, though most amateurs use a 1-week template.

Macrocycle

The overall training cycle for a long term period, up to a year.

Mesocycle

A block of microcycles, normally 4-6 depending on the length of the microcycle, which normally have a specific focus, e.g. hills, speed, race pace.

Negative split

Running the second half of a race faster than the first half. More on why I love it.

Overtraining

The result of overloading your body with too much training relative to your capacity, and not allowing for enough recovery. Can lead to a decline in performance and injury. See my note on overtraining for more detail.

Periodisation

Structuring your training mesocycles to peak at the time of your goal race(s), rather than attempting to train the same way all year round.

Polarised training

Doing more training at the easier and harder range of efforts rather than in the middle. Similar to 80/20 training which suggests doing 80% of training at an easy effort and 20% at harder ones.

Positive split

Running the first half of a race faster than the second half.

RPE

Rate of perceived exertion. Commonly done on a 1-10 scale where the easiest effort is scored 1 and the hardest 10. This can be used to gauge training levels and track progress over time.

Recovery run

An easy pace run designed to take place in the days following a race or hard workout in order to stimulate the recovery from it.

Running economy

The amount of energy used to sustain a certain pace. An improvement in running economy means the ability to run at the same pace as a previous measurement, but using less energy, meaning theoretically that you should be able to hold that pace for longer.

Static stretching

Stretches which involve holding a muscle in a lengthened position, typically for 10-20 seconds. Contrary to common thought, this is best done after a run and not before, where dynamic stretching is preferable.

Steady running

Running at a pace where it feels like you are working moderately. Sometimes referred to as ‘zone 3’, this is normally slower than marathon pace but faster than your typical easy run pace.

Strides

Accelerations of around 10-20 seconds where you run up to around 90% effort (around the pace you’d run for a 1 mile race), hold at the top end for a couple of seconds, and then ease back down. It’s normal to do 3-4 as part of a warm up and then again near the end of your run.

Surges

Also known as ‘pickups’, these are accelerations of no defined length but which aren’t as quick as strides. You will probably run up to around marathon pace or effort when surging.

Taper

A period before a race where you lower the overall volume of running and strength training in order to be fresh for it. The longer the race (and the longer the training block you have put in for it), the longer your taper should be. Tapering too much can lead to lost training gains and feeling sluggish on race day.

Tempo run

A workout commonly around 4-8 miles in duration, run around a pace somewhere between your half marathon and marathon pace, though it may include some faster segments.

VO2 max

The maximum amount of oxygen your body is able to use during exercise. Increasing this number is normally a sign of increased fitness. Training at fast paces and racing, particularly at 5k and below, can lead to increased VO2 max.

Warm up

The initial transition from non-exercise to exercise, with the aim of preparing your body for an increased effort. See my note on how to warm up properly for more detail.