RP Glossary: Run vocabulary

An ongoing project to demystify running jargon

Last week in the comments, there was a request from Travis who wrote: “Maybe I've missed this on Running Probably but I'd love to learn more about types of runs. e.g., tempo, long, recovery. I have a general sense of these but a detailed explanation would be awesome.” 

This is a fun exercise because if you ask 10 different runners what these terms mean, you might get 10 slightly different interpretations depending on their influences. An easy run for some might be a recovery run for others, or it might just be a run run depending on how you choose to define it. 

With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to come up with a Running, Probably Glossary that we can update or modify as we go along. These posts will be unlocked for all RP readers. If you’ve thought about upgrading to a paid subscription, consider this an open invitation. 

Feel free to add your own interpretations or correct me if you think I’ve got something totally wrong. Like most runners, my sources of information are varied and spread out across a wide spectrum of coaches, writers, and fellow enthusiasts. My usage of these terms may not be exactly in line with some definitions, but they make sense to me. Hopefully they will resonate with you, as well. 

Let’s start with the vocabulary of the weekly running schedule where you’ll find easy runs, workouts, and long runs listed along with a few other variations. 

Easy runs

The bread and butter of every training program, the easy run is a deceptively simple concept that often takes runners years to master. Every single beginner program stresses the need to make easy days easy, and every single novice runner goes out of their way to make them way too hard. 

That’s because when most people go out for runs, they move at a pace that feels somewhat natural even though it’s probably a little too hard. If you enjoy running on that level, then cool. No judgment here. But if you actually want to improve and make running a long term part of your life, you need to embrace variety. That starts with easing off the throttle. 

I wrote about the benefits of slowing down last week so I won’t belabor those points, but it’s worth noting that learning how to run at a relaxed, easy pace is much harder than it looks. The key to unlocking the mysteries of easy running is understanding effort. Runners are notoriously bad at gauging their level of effort. 

If you were to ask someone to run with 50 percent effort, they will typically respond with something less than a max effort that’s nowhere near 50 percent. Maybe 60-75 percent. That’s when you fall into the dreaded nebulous zone where you’re working too hard for minimal gain. 

Anecdotally, this is where many runners peak and plateau. If they stay on this path too long, burnout and injury tend to lurk around the corner. Take me, for example. I did the majority of my runs just a little bit too hard for years until I started breaking down physically and mentally. 

As easy as easy running sounds, it’s quite difficult to wrap our heads around actually doing it consistently. There’s an element of self discipline involved that feels counter-productive, like we’re limiting our potential. You need to work through that mindset and see slowing down as a positive development that actually increases potential gains. 

Even after coming to terms with the concept, I’ll still occasionally drift back into bad habits after a few miles and subconsciously raise my effort level beyond where it should be for an easy run. That’s when you need a system to check yourself before you wreck yourself. 

There are two ways to measure effort. One is by feel, which is a highly recommended practice once you’ve developed a keen awareness of your body’s rhythms and natural pacing. The other is by heart rate, which is not as fun, but offers a robust line of defense against the whims of the runner's ego. 

In my training schedule, an easy run at 50 percent effort level is accompanied by a reminder to keep my HR under 135 beats per minute.* That generally translates to a pace between 10-12 minute miles, depending on factors like terrain and elevation gain. That’s slower than I’m capable of running, but that’s the point of the easy run.  

*(HR zones vary by age. For purposes of this exercise, I’ll use my numbers as reference points. If you don’t know how to define HR zones, now would be an excellent time to learn.)

Note that pace by itself is a bad way to measure effort because a 9-minute mile may feel easy one day, or like a struggle the next. That also depends on a variety of factors including stress, lack of sleep, hunger, the weather, your mood, or literally anything else that makes running feel harder than it was the day before.

So, what happens when you’re supposed to be on an easy run and your heart rate spikes above 135? If you’re committed to this approach, you’ll stop running and start walking until it calms back down. This usually happens at least once on my easy runs, but I’ve had outings with 3-4 HR spikes before I could get a handle on it. 

While frustrating, those spikes act as an early warning system. On rare occasions when nothing works and I want to throw my watch in the river, I will rely on perceived effort to finish the run. If all else fails, try talking to yourself or your running partner in full sentences. An easy run pace is meant to be conversational. 

Wrist based HR readings are not perfect, but they’re generally reliable. In the beginning, you’ll be shocked at how much effort you’re really putting into easy runs. Your watch is not lying to you. That said, they’re also notoriously finicky, so don’t get hung up on random fluctuations that come out of nowhere.

The bottom line is nobody’s giving out medals for easy runs and if they did, they’d go to the runners who stayed with a slow and steady pace. When easy runs really are easy, they build your aerobic capacity and allow you to accomplish great things. Roughly 80 percent of my weekly mileage falls in this zone.  

Slow and steady wins the prize.

Recovery run 

Technically the same as an easy run, but I reserve recovery runs for the days following a major outing like a race, a long run, or a tough workout when your body's a little beat up and still feeling the effects of a monster effort. 

The same principles as easy running apply, but make an extra effort to keep things chill and under control while also paying extra attention to how your body feels. I will typically run these a full minute or so per mile slower than my easy running pace. 

You could call this “jogging,” but there’s something about that word that I don’t care for and I like the sound of a recovery run. More proactive. 

A run run 

I hesitated to make this its own category, but for the sake of argument, I will note that some of my easy running days allow me to extend my heart rate to about 145 beats per minute. That area between 135-and-145 beats is generally referred to as “60 percent effort” on my schedule.  

In terms of pacing, a consistent 60 percent effort might be a minute faster per mile than my easy run pace, but it’s still below aerobic threshold, or what could be called a tempo effort. (We’ll get to all these terms in time.) That zone falls between 145-160 beats per minute on my watch and I try to stay out of there as best I can. 

Your pace might also be slower. Sometimes a 60 percent effort means putting a little more oomph into hills. Adding climb will make your pace slower, but it will also make you a stronger runner. 

At no point during a regular run do I blast, jet, or otherwise hit the gas. Save that extra sauce for a workout. On a related note, I find that I do my best thinking at the 50-60 percent effort level, so take your time and enjoy the ride. If running has a fun zone, this is it. 

While I still consider these days easy runs and approach them as such, they offer a little more flexibility and freedom of choice for the runner. Use it wisely. 

Started slow, ended fast, but not too fast.

Workouts  

Remember when I said that roughly 80 percent of my running was done in the easy zone? Meet the other 20 percent. Workouts are a category unto themself with many fascinating variations and dark twists. 

Workouts can take the form of sprint intervals on a track or all-out efforts on hills. They can be tempo runs of various sorts or they can be aerobic progressions where you do a little bit of everything. 

We’ll get to all those in future versions of the RP Glossary, but for purposes of this discussion, a workout is when you crank your effort and your heart rate for a set period of time or distance that may even touch the rarefied realm of high intensity anaerobic work before coming back down. 

My workouts typically happen on Wednesday. This week I have 3 x 800 meter hill intervals at max effort with two miles of easy running as a warmup and two miles of easy running to cool down. Those easy miles along with the slow paced intervals between high intensity reps add up to seven miles with only 1.5 miles of actual hard running. 

Workouts are hard, but they feel amazing and provide all kinds of wonderful training stimulus that will benefit your running. Be careful not to drink too much from the well, a little sip goes a long way. 

Workouts should only be added to a program after a reasonable amount of base building miles done at an easy pace. What’s reasonable? Hard to tell, but I typically do at least a month of base building before incorporating workouts into my schedule. 

4 x 1,200 intervals. Let us never speak of them again.

Long run 

A long run is the longest run you have on your schedule that week. The mileage can look a lot different for a 5K runner than an ultra marathoner, but that is a literal definition of a long run. There are many others. 

Some see the long run as anything lasting longer than an hour and a half, and others view it as a percentage of that week’s total mileage. However you or your training program define it, the long run typically takes place on the same day each week and involves some degree of planning and preparation. 

You want to build up to your long run, gradually increasing distance as your fitness and aerobic conditioning improve. You may not feel awesome going into a long run, but you shouldn’t feel tired and haggard. If you are, it could be an indication that you’re overtraining. Consider taking a rest day. Your body will thank you for it. 

Unless you’re on a plan that specifically calls for it, the long run is absolutely not the day to test your fitness by running the entire distance at race pace. We have a word for those days, they’re called races. However, long runs offer an excellent opportunity to test out gear or fueling strategies that you may consider using on race day. Think of them like practices or dress rehearsals for the real thing.   

How fast should you run on a long run? That depends. There’s a thing called LSD -- long, slow, distance (not the psychedelic) -- that doesn’t do much except churn out slow long distance runners. Most of my long run miles are in the 50-60 percent effort zone. That’s well below race pace, but generally faster than an easy run and for a much longer period of time. 

Sometimes my long runs have a workout component attached to them. That could take the form of a tempo effort, an aerobic progression, or a series of hill repeats. The takeaway is that I’ll do the majority of my long run miles at a sustained 50-60 percent effort level that doesn’t feel too hard. When it’s time to crank up the intensity, I’m ready to fly.  

Note the difference between ‘average’ and ‘best,’ which came in the final mile.

With or without a workout attached, long runs take a lot out of you. Most plans call for a rest day either on the day before or after, if not both. At the very least, a run the day before or after a long run should be in the easy or recovery run zone. In the ultra world there’s a training strategy that calls for back-to-back long running days, but that’s a whole other deal. 

The best part about long runs? Food. It’s super important to replenish your body’s glycogen stores after a long run. I always have a recovery smoothie* waiting for me along with a Clif Bar and maybe some chips if it’s hot to replenish lost sodium. Eating and running go hand-in-hand, so don’t skimp on calories. Your body needs them. 

*Anti-oxidant cooler:  

• 1 cup tart cherry juice

• 1 cup frozen blueberries

• 1 banana 

• ½ cup one percent plain yogurt 

Questions, thoughts, clarifications? Let me know in the comments.