Teignbridge Trotters Jargon Buster

Thinking of trying a session, but confused by the terminology? Then look no further....

Chain running
Where the group continuously jog in a single file then the back runner sprints to the front of the ‘chain’ and returns to jogging, then the next person at the back runs to the front and so on. This is repeated for a set time or distance and each runner has sprinted to the front of the group a number of times.

Fartlek (Sprint efforts)
Yes – it’s foreign! Means speed play. Basically, it’s a mixed tempo run with a random mix of walk, jog, run or sprint efforts, at the whim of the coach.

Intervals
Where each running effort is of equal distance and the recovery is constant (e.g. 5 x 400m with 1 minute recovery). Depending on the group size, the recovery may be self-timed.

Jellyman Hills
In the Powderham Road area – a nice variety of up one hill, down another, up one hill, down another repeat.

Kenyan Hills (Quality hill efforts)
Running up and down hills – where running back down takes the same time as running up. E.g. 70 seconds uphill, 70 seconds downhill. The aim is always to be back at the bottom of the hill in time so you are ready for the next uphill effort.

Lactate Threshold Training
It involves training at (or slightly below) your threshold – we’re not talking about a pain threshold or a patience threshold, but specifically your lactate or anaerobic threshold.The lactate threshold is, in the simplest terms, the point at which your body produces lactic acid faster than it can be removed from the muscles, so it starts to build up in the bloodstream. Lactic acid is a normal by-product of the energy release system that allows you to exercise hard, and at lower intensity levels your body simply removes it as a waste product. When you’re working harder and lactic acid starts to build up, the effect you’ll notice is that you fatigue much quicker and you start to feel a burning sensation in your working muscles, making it harder to push on through. More info here.

Parlauf (Sprint efforts)
Yes – it’s also foreign! It means Pair Running. 1 of each pair runs clockwise, the other jogs anticlockwise. This may be round a marked course (e.g. a football pitch or car park). When they meet, the runner jogs and the jogger runs and so on for a specified time.

Pyramids (Sprint efforts)
Runners start together. Efforts increase in time or distance then decrease. E.g. 30seconds, 45s, 60s, 75s, 60s, 45s then 30s. Recovery may be the jog back to the start to re-start together.

Reduced recovery
Where each running effort is of equal distance but the recovery time is reduced each repetition (e.g. 6 x 400m with 2 min, 1:30 min, 1 min, 45 sec, 30 secs recovery between each effort).

Relays (Sprint efforts)
Teams of 3 people of similar ability. Alternately run a distance of between 50 and 150 metres. This is usually done for a specific time (e.g. 2 sets of 10 minutes).

Tempo run
It generally means you set out at an easy pace, speed up for the middle miles then slow down to an easy pace. It's a way of increasing your speed endurance over distance. The idea being that you increase the distance of the middle faster miles. So week 1 might be - 1 mile easy 3 miles hard 1 mile easy. Week 2 - 1 mile easy 4 miles hard 1 mile easy and so on.

Three Hills Challenge (Hill efforts)
Coach will identify a relevant area (with lots of hills – up and down). The session will involve a warm-up run followed by sustained effort for a time e.g. 45mins, then cool-down jog.

VO2 Max
VO2 max is a measure of the maximum volume of oxygen that an athlete can use. It is measured in millilitres per kilogramme of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min).