Running Glossary

Running seems simple—just put one foot in front of the other. But the moment you pick up a training plan or talk to a coach, you're hit with terms like "strides," "VO2max," and "easy pace." Without understanding these concepts, you're essentially following instructions in a foreign language.

At A Faster 5K, we've coached athletes from second graders to collegiate competitors. The athletes who understand why they're doing a workout—not just what to do—consistently improve faster. When Trevor Berquist qualified for New Balance Nationals, he didn't just run the workouts. He understood how threshold runs were building his lactate clearance and how easy days were allowing adaptation. That understanding made him coachable.

This glossary is organized by category so you can find what you need quickly, whether you're decoding a workout or having a conversation with your coach.

When I started coaching Joey Fitzpatrick as an eighth grader, one of the first things we did was establish a shared vocabulary. When I said "threshold," he knew exactly what effort I meant. When I wrote "6 x 800 @ 5KP w/ 2:00 jg," he could decode it instantly: six half-mile repeats at his 5K race pace with two-minute jog recoveries.

That shared language made every workout more effective. There was no confusion, no wasted energy figuring out what I meant. Joey went from the number-two ranked athlete in Florida to a state champion and state meet record holder. The workouts mattered, but so did understanding them.

We see the same pattern with every athlete we coach at Ocala Distance Project. When Collin Moore was training for his 55:38 Gate River Run 15K—the top high school performance at that race—we spent time early in his development making sure he understood the purpose behind each session. "This is aerobic development." "This builds your finishing kick." "This teaches race-specific fatigue resistance."

Understanding the terminology isn't just academic. It's functional. It makes you a better athlete because you become an active participant in your training rather than someone blindly following instructions.

Bookmark this page. When you see a term you don't recognize in a training plan or article, come back here. Better yet, if you're working with a coach, use these terms in conversation. Ask questions like:

• "Is this workout targeting my threshold or my VO2max?"
• "Should I be at tempo effort or marathon pace for this progression run?"
• "Are we doing active or passive recovery between reps?"

The more precisely you can communicate, the more effective your training becomes. And the more you understand why you're doing a workout, the more likely you are to execute it correctly.