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One sure way to become ensconced in the running community is to become conversant in its terms.

In this episode coach Angie explains the terminally, vocabulary, and slang commonly used by runners.

This is part 2 of our words you should know series and we think you’ll love it!

More running terminology you should know,

Injury and Mishaps

• RICE= Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation; used to treat certain injuries
• Stitch= side cramp
• Runners trots= gastrointestinal (GI) problems on the run resulting in diarrhea
• Code brown= desperately in need of a place to have a bowel movement; this may or may not end in an unfortunate accident (shart=a fart you should not have trusted)
• Fitness leak= urine leakage caused by high impact activities; most common in women affecting at least 25%
• Chaffing= an irritation or rubbing of the skin caused by skin to skin or skin to fabric contact made worse by the presence of moisture and heat
• Chub rub= thigh chaffing from skin rubbing together
• Stress fracture (SFX)= a hairline crack in the bone
• Tendinitis= inflammation of a tendon
• Plantar fascitis (PF)= involves pain and inflammation of a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes
• Piriformis Syndrome (PS)= Irritation of the sciatic nerve caused by compression of the nerve within the buttock by the piriformis muscle
• Illiotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)= inflammation of IT band which runs on the outside of the leg from the hip to just below the knee; most often occurs where the band crosses over the outside of the knee and also at hip
• Runner’s Knee or (Patello-femoral Syndrome)= the kneecap (patella) rubbing on the front of the thigh bone (femur) causing pain under or around the kneecap
• Black toenails= bruising to the nail bed caused by excess pressure or pounding during running (often during downhills); the toenail will be sore post-race and you may end up eventually losing the nail
• Bloody nipples= chaffing to men’s nipples that causes bloody patches on their shirt—usually the man is wearing white
• Biff= a fall that does not lead to a trip to the ER
• Face Plant= using your face to catch a fall
• Snot rocket/farmer’s blow= ejecting snot from your nose by closing one nostril with a finger and blowing forcefully out of the other
• Sniffer= sniffing back snot in absence of a tissue; usually caused by exercise induced rhinitis or allergies

Common and Not-So-Common Slang

• FOMO= fear of missing out
• Bucket list= a race or event that you really want to do in the future; “that’s a bucket list race for me”
• Bandit= someone who runs a race who hasn’t registered, this is frowned upon
• Rabbit= someone who goes out with the intention of setting a fast pace but then often drops out; a rabbit may be sanctioned by the race to pace elite runners
• Elite= a professional runner who aspires to or achieves race wins or Olympic qualification, a very nebulous term
• Chicked= a man who gets passed by a woman in a race
• Geezered= a young person passed by an older person during a run or race
• Streaker= running at least 1 mile a day for a certain period of time. To register an official running streak you must complete at least 365 days
• Post-race blues= a sad, letdown or directionless feeling that can happen after completing a big race
• Sponsored= an athlete who is partially or totally supported by one or more companies
• Brand Ambassador= an athlete who promotes a certain brand or product and usually receives free gear in return
• Ragnar= short for Ragnar Relay–long distance, team, overnight running relays; they have both road and trail events
• Parkrun= organized free weekly timed 5k runs that take place on Saturday morning all over the world
• OCR= obstacle course racing like Tough Mudder and Spartan Races
• C25K= a term referring to couch to 5k; going from not running to completing your first 5k distance
• Beer Mile= a race that consists of one beer (12 oz, minimum of 5% alcohol by volume) consumed every ¼ mile. Penalty laps are given for vomiting.
• Runchies/Rungry= the hungry sensation produced by running, this is followed by a short temper if food is not quickly obtained
• Trackster= someone who runs mostly on the track or follows track events closely
• Ghost runner= someone real or imagined who is on your heals during a race or run
• Runcrastination= putting off unwanted tasks to go for a run or think about running
• Browsing= searching for races online via Marathon Guide, Running in the USA, Active, Ultra-Sign Up, this is part of runcrastination
• Runhole= a term assigned to a runner who talks incessantly about running and neglects friends and family for training and races
• Runcation= planning a vacation around a race
• Roadkill= a person sitting or laying alongside a road or trail during a race
• Mountain goating= walking or running uphill in a crouched position using hands and feet to climb
• Bombing downhill= running downhill fast or in a nearly uncontrolled manner
• Leap frogging= continually passing and being passed by the same person(s) during a race
• Wizard sticks= trekking poles
• Hammer/drop the hammer= running hard at a challenging section or at the end of a run or race; Hammer can also refer to the company Hammer Nutrition
• Sticky= covering your car with running related stickers
• Going Barkley= bushwhacking it through an unmarked section of land
• Crop dusting= the act of passing someone on the course while simultaneously eeking out the results of last night’s 15 bean and pasta dinner extravaganza
• Maniac= A term referring to someone who belongs to the Marathon Maniac club, to join you have to run 2 marathons in 14 days or 3 in 90 days. If someone calls you a maniac (or crazy) in running related terms it’s supposed to be taken as a compliment
• Fanatic= A term referring to someone who belongs to the Half Fanatic Club, to join you have to run 2 half marathons within 14 days or 3 in 90 days
• Double Agent= a person who belongs to both the Half Fanatics and Marathon Maniacs
• Back to back marathon= running marathons on two consecutive weekends
• Double marathon= running marathons on two consecutive days (there are also triples, quads, etc)
• Grand Slam= completing all four of the most prestigious 100 mile races in one calendar year, the races are Western States in CA, Vermont 100 miler, Wasatch Front 100 miler in UT and Leadville Trail 100 in CO
• World Marathon Majors= six prestigious marathons: Tokyo Marathon, London Marathon, Boston Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon, NYC Marathon

*For the complete list including training terms, agencies, abbreviations, equipment and more see part 1.