Once upon a time I was a beginning runner. \u00a0MFH (My Favorite Husband) had been running most of the time we had been married so I was a little familiar with runners “lingo.” \u00a0You know, the terms that runners throw around when they’re talking shop.<\/p>\n
I’ve only been running a little over 4 years but I am so terribly guilty of tossing out these words here and there that I forget that what once were foreign words to me are also practically Greek to others. \u00a0I assume (I know, never assume) that everybody knows what I am talking about. \u00a0The words. \u00a0The abbreviations. \u00a0All of it.<\/p>\n
I have a sweet friend on a FB running group. \u00a0I’m not going to use her name but she’ll know who she is when she sees this blog. \u00a0I’m writing this for her and the others who get puzzled by running terminology. \u00a0We’re going to try to sit down and cover the “basics” of words in the running vocabulary.<\/p>\n
First things first. \u00a0Let’s discuss distance. \u00a0Most races are measured in Kilometers or Miles. \u00a0Common distances are 5K, 10K, 13.1, 26.2, 50K, 50M and 100M. \u00a0The “K” after the number is not referring to the Periodic Table of Elements and discussing Potassium (jk). \u00a0It is referring to the distance being measured in Kilometers. \u00a0A 5K race is the distance most people new to running (and runners who are super fast!) like to race. \u00a0This distance is 3.1 miles. \u00a0A relatively shorter distance to run.<\/p>\n
10K is 10 Kilometers or 6.2 miles.<\/p>\n
13.1 is the distance of a half marathon. \u00a0For some reason, they do not use a “M” after the 13.1. \u00a0I don’t know why, they just don’t. \u00a0I guess maybe it’s like all those silly little rules in the English language…you know, i before except after c, blah, blah, blah.<\/p>\n
26.2 is like 13.1~no M after it. \u00a0This is the marathon distance, 26.2 miles. \u00a0Please, please, please, if you are running a 5K or a 10K or whatever distance, do NOT say, ”I’m running a 5K marathon.” \u00a0You are NOT running a 5K marathon. \u00a0You are running a 5K. \u00a0Period. \u00a0There is only one distance that counts as running a marathon and that is 26.2 miles. \u00a0If you say that to somebody who considers themselves a hot shot runner, that is like fingernails on a chalkboard. \u00a0You may be endangering your life if you say this. \u00a0Hahaha!!!<\/p>\n
Any distance further than the marathon distance is considered an Ultra Marathon. \u00a0Most people just refer to these distances as “Ultra’s.” \u00a0The shortest Ultra distance is the 50K. \u00a0See? \u00a0The K is back. \u00a0We’ve jumped from M’s to K’s. \u00a0The 50K distance is 31.68 Miles.<\/p>\n
The tricky thing about Ultra’s is they are usually on the trails, out in the woods somewhere. \u00a0The course measurement rarely is accurate. \u00a0Some races will be just a little shy of the distance whereas others may be a few miles long.<\/p>\n
There is a marked difference in the atmosphere from the “road race” distances (5K-26.2). \u00a0In these distances, people really, really, really live and die by their finishing time. \u00a0When you move on to Ultra’s, yes, time is important! \u00a0Don’t get me wrong on that! \u00a0Most of the time, however, it is a matter of, do you have what it takes to gut it out on the trails for 12 hrs?<\/p>\n
Oops! \u00a0Went chasing rabbits there for a second. \u00a0Other common Ultra distances are the 50M and the 100M. \u00a0The 100M is the longest of the “Long” Ultra’s. \u00a0There are races longer than 100M but not a lot. \u00a0Most 100M have a time limit of 30(ish) hours. \u00a0Depends on how challenging the course is.<\/p>\n
So, this takes us to training. \u00a0You with me so far?<\/p>\n
Training runs: \u00a0You have easy pace runs. \u00a0Tempo runs. \u00a0Intervals. \u00a0Fartleks. \u00a0Hill repeats. \u00a0Race Pace. \u00a0Long Slow Run, and Recovery runs. \u00a0There’s a different type of run to meet your training needs! \u00a0Some are nice and easy, some are brutal.<\/p>\n
Easy pace run is just that. \u00a0You go out and run and have a nice time.<\/p>\n
Temp Runs: \u00a0You have a nice little warm up then you keep increasing tempo (speed or pace) through the remainder of the run until, thank God! \u00a0You finally get to slow down and go home. \u00a0These are hard.<\/p>\n
Intervals. \u00a0Nice little warm up. \u00a0Then fast! \u00a0Then slower. \u00a0Then Fast! \u00a0Then slower…until you finally get to slow down and go home.<\/p>\n
Fartleks. \u00a0Once people get over making fun of the name, this is an excellent training run! \u00a0A lot of people use the spacing of telephone poles for this run. \u00a0Again, nice warm up, then you run as fast as you can for the distance between two telephone poles. \u00a0Recovery run between the next two poles. \u00a0Then as fast as you can between the next two poles and then recover….you get the idea. \u00a0You’re really happy when you finally get to slow down and head home.<\/p>\n
Hill Repeats. \u00a0I love these! \u00a0A nice warm up run (have you noticed you want to be warmed up before you begin these different training runs? \u00a0I usually do a nice, easy 2M before I begin these different runs). \u00a0At the end of your warm up, you want to find yourself at the bottom of a hill with a 7-9% grade. \u00a0As soon as you reach the bottom you being to charge back up the hill as fast as you can for 30 seconds. \u00a0After 30 seconds, turn around and gently run back down. \u00a0At the bottom of the hill, turn around and charge right back up again. \u00a0Whee! \u00a0Usually you do 6(ish) repeats. \u00a0They’re tough!<\/p>\n
Race Pace: \u00a0You’re assigned a set distance and you run it as close to as fast as you are planning to run your upcoming race.<\/p>\n
Long Slow Run: \u00a0Most people will call this their long run and if they are writing it out and are feeling especially lazy, they may just say, LSR. \u00a0This is your endurance run. \u00a0How long can you go? \u00a0It depends on the race you have on your racing schedule as to how long your LSR should be. \u00a0They’re not always going to be the same distance every time. \u00a0You have to gradually increase the distance of this run. \u00a0You should try to remember the 10% rule. \u00a0Do not increase your total weekly mileage more the 10% a week to keep your risk of injury down.<\/p>\n
Recovery Run: \u00a0This the the run the day after your long run. \u00a0Usually, you will find yourself feeling a little creaky the day after your long run and this run, even though you think you’re going to die, really helps work the kinks out.<\/p>\n
There are many different variations of these basic training runs. \u00a0The thing to bear in mind is that you want to vary your workout! \u00a0Trying to go out every day and do everything the exact same way~same distance, same route, same intensity…you may be asking for trouble. \u00a0Mix it up! \u00a0It also makes training a lot more fun.<\/p>\n
Food! \u00a0Hahaha!!! \u00a0We all LOVE food!<\/p>\n
“I ran 3 miles today. \u00a0I can eat whatever I want!” \u00a0Uh, no. \u00a0For the average person, you burn maybe 100 calories per mile. \u00a0As you get more efficient and if you’re trying to drop a few pounds, the more you lose, the less calories a mile you will be burning. \u00a0So, saying you’re the “average” person and ran 3 miles, that means you burned off 300 calories. \u00a0A Snickers bar is almost 300 calories! \u00a0You still need to dot your i’s and cross your t’s with your diet.<\/p>\n
You DO need to eat to fuel your running though! \u00a0Believe it or not, carbs are your friend. \u00a0That is what the body really, really likes for fuel for running. \u00a0A bagel! \u00a0Mmmm!!! \u00a0The body says, “Yes, please!” \u00a0There are tons of resources online to help you figure out what kind of food will help you and your running. \u00a0*A word of caution* \u00a0I am not a fan of powders, shakes, pills and all of that other nonsense. \u00a0I very firmly believe we should be fueling our bodys with FOOD. \u00a0I encourage you to make the effort to learn how to cook and fuel properly without giving in to gimmicks.<\/p>\n
Tapering. \u00a0#Ugh. \u00a0Tapering is, I think, almost every runners most welcome nightmare. \u00a0Is that a contradiction? \u00a0Yes and no.<\/p>\n
You’ve trained like crazy getting ready for a race. \u00a0You’ve put in the miles, the different types of training runs…all of that. \u00a0For the most part you are so very ready to run this race EXCEPT, you’re so tired! \u00a0It’s true! \u00a0Training for an event will take if out of you! \u00a0So, what do you do to finish getting ready for your race? \u00a0You taper.<\/p>\n
You’ve put in the miles. \u00a0Now, it’s time to rest but to do it without losing the benefits of all your hard work. \u00a0Tapering is a tricky thing! \u00a0Depending on the distance of the race, your taper for a 13.1 would probably be one week. \u00a0A marathon and 50K, 2 weeks. A 50M, 3 weeks. \u00a0A 100M, a month.<\/p>\n
Does this mean you sit back and do a big fat nothing for your taper time? \u00a0Hardly! \u00a0You’re still out there running but not as far. \u00a0Not as intense. \u00a0Not as often. \u00a0Finally, a few days before the race, you might take two days off relaxing before your big day.<\/p>\n
Because of what seems like the lack of training, a lot of runners have a very hard time dealing with the inactivity. \u00a0*raises hand. \u00a0I go nuts during a taper* \u00a0You feel guilty for not being out there training. \u00a0You get jealous when your friends are posting their runs online and YOU’RE HUNGRY!!! \u00a0That’s the worst part! \u00a0Your body is still thinking you’re training like crazy and wants to be fed but now’s the time you have to be very careful in what you eat. \u00a0Choose wisely. \u00a0Eat smart. \u00a0Eat stuff you know will fuel your body for the race BUT don’t overeat! \u00a0You’ve worked so hard through all your training, you don’t want to gain a bunch of weight during your taper! \u00a0All the extra poundage? \u00a0You’ll have to drag it around during the race and that’s hard work! \u00a0Nope. \u00a0Best to be a little hungry for a little while (easier said than done. \u00a0especially when there’s ice cream in the freezer. \u00a0HA!).<\/p>\n
Finally, race day arrives! \u00a0YAY!!!! \u00a0You probably haven’t slept much the night before. \u00a0No big deal. \u00a0Hardly anybody does. \u00a0You have adrenaline pumping through your veins. \u00a0Your body say, “Let’s do this!” \u00a0Eat a light breakfast a good 3 hrs before the race starts (gun time). \u00a0Drink some water. \u00a0DON’T PIG OUT! \u00a0You don’t want tummy trouble during the race! \u00a0Nothing worse than having nature call while racing. \u00a0‘Nuff said.<\/p>\n
Well, I’m sure there will still be tons of questions, but I’ve blabbered on a lot. \u00a0Time for me to wrap this up. \u00a0Hope at least this clears up a few questions?<\/p>\n
Happy Running!!!<\/p>\n
#IRun4Aiden<\/p>\n
#teamZensah<\/p>\n
#AbbottWMM<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once upon a time I was a beginning runner. \u00a0MFH (My Favorite Husband) had been running most of the time we had been married so I was a little familiar with runners “lingo.” \u00a0You know, the terms that runners throw around when they’re talking shop. I’ve only been running a little over 4 years but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,6,8,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3713"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3713"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3715,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3713\/revisions\/3715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}