Sportspeak: Running

[Nick]

Runners may hit the road on their own but, get a few runners in a room and they can talk about their sport for hours. Want to get up to speed on the terms they use? There's no better place to get started than SportSpeak: running. Shave some serious time off your learning curve.

1. Pronation is:
A) extreme pride when competing for your country at an international event. B) the technical term for a runner's high. C) the natural inward roll of some people's feet that takes place as soon as their heels hit the ground; other people have an outward roll called supination.

2. Fartlek is:
A) not a running term. B) a creative training method. It means "speed play" in Swedish. During a run, when you feel like sprinting, take off; when you feel like jumping, leap; and when you feel like doing taking things slow, go right on ahead. C) a special method runners use to lace up their shoes.

3. Runner's high is:
A) when you get dizzy while running at higher altitude. B) a feeling of extreme joy that runners experience while training or racing because endorphins are released. C) where marathoners usually struggle the most.

4. Toebox is:
A) the area at the front of a sneaker where the toes hang out. B) a piece of exercise equipment that you stand on to do heel raises; you hang off the box by your toes. C) not a runner's term.

5. 10-K pace is:
A) the nervous ?nergy runners have before a 10-K race. It makes them pace back and forth before the start of the race. B) how fast a runner ran during their last 10-K race. It's used to set the training pace on other days. For example, "Try to beat your 10K pace during today's practice." C) the goal you set for an upcoming race.

6. Negative splits is:
A) the feeling you get at the end of a runner's high. B) a type of stretch. C) when you run the second half of a race faster than the first half.

7. Pick-ups is:
A) when you have sudden bursts of speed throughout a run. They don't last long and they can help you shake up a boring run. B) when a runner stops mid-race to help a struggling competitor. C) an energizing smoothie some runners like to drink before a race; it contains bananas, protein powder, and peanut butter.

8. Taper is:
A) a kind of candle--has nothing to do with running. B) when runners reduce their training mileage in the days or weeks before a big race. It gives their bodies a chance to rest and give it their all during the event. C) when you purposely slow down at certain points of a run.

Answers
1. C 2. B 3. B 4. A 5. B 6. C 7. A 8. B