Running glossary in plain language

Cadence

Steps per minute. Between 165 and 180 is usually efficient for most people.

Consistency

Of the workouts planned in the last 4 weeks, how many you completed.

It's the number that best predicts progress. Three easy runs a week, every week, are worth more than one hard run now and then.

Distance

How far you'll run in total, including warm-up and cool-down.

Down week

Every 3 or 4 weeks, volume drops ~30%. It's when the body absorbs the training.

Easy run

A pace at which you can hold a conversation. The foundation of any plan.

Most of your volume should look like this. It feels "too easy", but it's what builds the aerobic engine.

Effort

How the workout should feel to you, from 1 (walking) to 10 (all you have).

Also called RPE (rate of perceived exertion). 3–4: you can speak full sentences. 5–6: short phrases. 7–8: single words. 9–10: you can't talk. Your body is in charge, not the watch.

Elevation

Total meters of climbing accumulated over the route.

Estimated load

Minutes running × effort. Measures how much the week weighed on your body.

A week of 300 easy minutes can weigh less than one of 200 hard minutes. When load rises too fast, injury risk rises with it.

Estimated time

How long the workout should take, computed from distance and the pace range.

Fartlek

Speed play: speed up and slow down by feel or time, no track and no strict stopwatch.

Heart rate

Beats per minute. Workout average and the peak reached.

Hill repeats

Repetitions on a slope. Strength and form with less impact than flat intervals.

HR zone

The heart-rate range the workout should stay in.

Zones 1–2 are easy, 3 is moderate, 4–5 are hard. Only meaningful if you run with a heart-rate monitor.

Intervals

Hard stretches alternated with a recovery jog. E.g. 5 × 800 m.

The rest between reps is part of the workout. Run the reps hard, but so the last one comes out like the first.

Long run

The longest run of the week, at a comfortable pace. Builds endurance.

It should be easy enough that you finish tired, not wrecked. If you ended exhausted, you ran it too fast.

Pace

How long it takes you to run 1 km. 6:00/km = six minutes per kilometer.

The lower the number, the faster you are. The range shown is the rhythm that makes sense for this workout — not an exact target, a zone.

Planned vs. actual

What the plan asked for and what you actually ran, side by side.

Progression run

Starts easy and finishes strong, speeding up gradually.

Race pace

A workout at the pace you intend to run on race day.

Recovery run

A very short, very easy run the day after a hard workout.

It helps the body recover; it isn't training. Slower than your easy run.

Splits

Your pace for each kilometer. Shows whether the rhythm was steady or faded at the end.

Streak

Consecutive weeks with at least one logged run.

Strides

Short (100 m), relaxed accelerations after an easy run.

They improve form and cadence without tiring you. Not a sprint — just loosening up the legs.

Taper

The last weeks before a race, with less volume. Arrive rested without losing rhythm.

Tempo run

A continuous block at a strong but controlled pace, "comfortably hard".

Teaches the body to hold a rhythm. You can say a few words, not sentences.