I’ve put together a table of training related lingo/acronyms that you may see being used in my blog. These came from various sources found on the internet, but most of them come thanks to my pals over at Beginner Triathlete. I’ve sorted them by discipline/area of interest to try and help make it quicker to find something if you’re unsure of what it means.
Here are some shortcut links to each section:
Abbreviations Used on My Blog
Generic Terms
Swimming Related
Cycling Related
Running Related
Race Day
Distances
| WI | Weigh In - my weekly weigh in at Weight Watchers |
| WIP | Work in Progress - a stitching project started, but not yet finished |
| WW | Weight Watchers |
| Wog | Walk/Run combination - Walking X amount of time and then running X amount of time |
| AHR | Average Heart Rate |
| Base | The solid foundation of fitness on which you build power and speed |
| Bonk | When you suddenly lose energy and fatigue sets in, usually caused when glycogen stores in the liver and muscles are depleted, resulting in a major performance drop. Also “hitting the wall”. |
| BPM | Beats per Minute (heart rate) |
| Carbo-loading | Eating a high carbohydrate diet (approximately 60-70% of total calories) for the three days leading up to a race to maximally fill the glycogen stores. |
| CD | Cool Down |
| HR | Heart Rate |
| HRM | Heart Rate Monitor |
| Interval Training | Any cardiovascular workout (e.g. biking, running, rowing, etc.) that involves brief bouts at near-maximum exertion interspersed with periods of lower-intensity activity |
| Lactic Acid | Lactic acid is formed from glucose, and used by working muscles for energy. It is thought that muscle cells convert glucose or glycogen to lactic acid, then lactic acid is absorbed and converted to a fuel by mitochondria in muscle cells. Lactic acid is what causes muscle soreness. |
| Ladder | An interval workout with progressively increasing then decreasing distances at each interval. For example, run fast for 400m, jog for 200m, run for 800m, jog for 200m, run for 1200m, jog for 200m, run for 800m, jog for 200m, run for 400m, jog for 200m. |
| MHR | Maximum Heart Rate |
| Periodization | Varying the training levels over discrete periods of time to prevent overtraining |
| RHR or mRHR | Resting Heart Rate or Morning Resting Heart Rate (to distinguish the lowest rate vs. RHR, which could be recovery heart rate.) |
| RPE | Rate of perceived exertion |
| Tri-Geek | One who is obsessed with triathlons and all the toys that go with it. He/she lives for the sport, loves to talk about triathlons, loves to train for triathlons, and is involved with anything having to do with the sport. |
| USAT | USA Triathlon, the national governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. |
| WU | Warm Up |
| Dolphin Dive | Technique used to get through shallow water that is more efficient than wading. Involves doing short shallow dives, standing up, and repeating until you get deep enough to swim. |
| Dolphin Kick | Beating your legs in unison while swimming face down. Used with the butterfly stroke. |
| OWS | Open Water Swim |
| Pull Buoy | Wwim training device that allows the legs to be kept afloat without any kicking action, allowing the swimmer to concentrate on arm exercises. |
| TI | Total Immersion: swimming instruction by Terry Laughlin |
| Aero Bars | Handlebars which face forward with places for the elbows. These bars allow triathletes to maintain a very comfortable aerodynamic position |
| Bike Porn | The photos our colleagues and teammates share of their brand new bikes so that we may covet them. |
| Cadence or RPM | Revolutions per minute. The pace at which you are turning your cranks when you cycle. |
| Chamois Butter | A clean, non-greasy lubricant between you and your cycling shorts. In addition to making biking more comfortable, it reduces the chances of saddle sores, and restores dried-out chamois & short liners. |
| Granny Gear | The smallest bike chainring combined with largest cog, used mainly for climbing. |
| Kit | Collection of cycling clothing (jersey, shorts, gloves, helmet) |
| LBS | Local Bike Shop |
| Mashing | A cycling term indicating pedaling a big gear (53 x 13 or 14) with a slower cadence instead of spinning a smaller gear. |
| Taco | A bent bike wheel that looks like, well, a taco! |
| TdF | Tour de France |
| Trainer | An indoor training device for bicycles. The rear wheel is locked into place allowing the athlete to get in training miles without having to ride outdoors. This is especially useful during winter months in colder climates. |
| Tri-Bike | A triathlon-specific bicycle designed for riding in the aerodynamic position. This bike features aero bars, a steep seat tube angle to put you farther over the cranks and allow for a comfortable aerodynamic position, and a very light weight. |
| TT | Time Trial (usually in reference to cycling) |
| Wrench | Bike mechanic |
| Brick | Commonly, a combination workout that includes a bike and run back to back. Comedically, “Bike/Run It Can Kill” or “Bike/Run Ick”. It can be any combination of triathlon sports with less than 10 minutes between sports. |
| Easy Run | A slow run done at a conversational pace. |
| Fartlek | Swedish term meaning ’speed play’ that is a relaxed method of interval training. |
| Junk Miles | Runs used to reach a weekly or monthly mileage total rather than for a specific benefit . |
| LSD | Long Slow Distance. Slow running designed to improve endurance |
| PF | Plantar Fasciitis - Foot injury where there are micro-tears of the arch; especially painful in the morning; can be treated by stretching the arch and calves; massage with hands or rubbing foot on golf ball or shaving cream can; if untreated can lead to heel spurs (spur of bone from the heel bone). |
| Pace | Measure of the speed of running; usually quantified as minutes taken to run a mile. |
| Quarters | Quarter mile or 400 meters; often used when describing workouts of 400-meter (or quarter) run repeats. |
| Recovery Run | Slow to moderate running to recover from hard workouts or races and/or maintain aerobic conditioning. |
| Splits | Your time for a portion of your workout. For instance, your mile splits in a 5k are your times for each individual mile. |
| Transition Run | A short (around 10 minutes or 1 mile) run off the bike (as opposed to a Brick, which is usually a longer run). |
| Taper | Reducing your mileage several days to three weeks before an important race to ensure peak performance on race day. |
| Tempo Runs | Type of workout to improve the lactate threshold; usually consists of 15-30 minutes of running at the lactate threshold speed. |
| AG or AGer | Age Group(er) - Amateur athletes competing against others within one’s same age grouping |
| Athena | Female participant 150 pounds or more (can vary from race to race) |
| Bandit | A runner who participates in a race without registering or paying the entry fee |
| Biathlon | A dual-sport event, commonly existing of a bike and run race. Can be any two sports |
| Body Marking | Writing of one’s race number on their arm and/or leg and age group on the calf |
| BOP | Slower races who finish at the Back of Pack |
| BQ | Boston Qualifier - Designates a race which offers qualifying spots to the Boston Marathon. A runner who successfully qualifies will say they BQ’d. |
| Chip | Electronic timing device used to track athlete’s actual time from the start to finish lines. This is especially useful in larger races where it can often take a few minutes to actually reach the starting line after the starting gun. |
| Clyde or Clydesdale | Male participant 200 pounds or more (can vary from race to race) |
| DNS | Did Not Start |
| DNF | Did Not Finish |
| DFL | Dead f***ing last |
| DQ | Disqualified |
| Drafting | The process by which one athlete follows directly behind another athlete. The athlete that is drafting gains an advantage (roughly 20%) by doing less work, but still travels at the same speed as the lead athlete. In most triathlons drafting is illegal on the bike, but it is never illegal during the swim. All world cup triathlon events and the Olympics are draft legal. |
| Duathlon | A dual sport event generally consisting of three stages. Most common structure is a run-bike-run format. |
| FOP | Front of Pack |
| Fred | Anyone who dresses up in the full kit of a professional racing team, and even has the matching $6000+ bike to go with it, and rides maybe once a week at 12 mph. Poseur. |
| Goodie Bag | The bag of free stuff, coupons, ads, etc. you get when you pick up your race packet. |
| Hardware | Award for placing overall or in your AG (medal, trophy, etc.) |
| Ironman Qualifier | Designates a race which offers qualifying spots to the Hawaii Ironman World Championship. These qualifying spots are generally handed out to age-group winners and top finishers. |
| Jockstrap | “athletic supporter”/volunteer |
| Kick | A finishing sprint at the end of a race. |
| Master | A athlete 40 years of age or older |
| MOP | Middle of Pack |
| Negative Split | Finish the second half of a workout/race faster than the first half. |
| OA | Over-All, as in overall placement in the race. |
| PB/PR | Personal best/record |
| Rabbit | The person you pick out of the crowd before your swim start that you will chase and try to pass on your way to the finish. |
| Race Packet | The packet you get that has your number, swim cap, chip, etc. |
| RD | Race Director |
| RR | Race Report |
| Splits | Your time for a portion of your race. For instance, your mile splits in a 5k are your times for each individual mile. |
| Swag/Schwag | Free products, t-shirts, hats, etc. given out at races by manufacturers |
| Transition Area | Place where a triathlete keeps belongings (i.e., bike, wetsuit, running shoes) during a triathlon. This area is part of the race course. After a triathlete finishes their swim, they run to the transition area where they mount their bike. After the bike leg of the race is completed, the triathlete dismounts their bike (in the same spot they retrieved it) and begins the run portion. The race always ends at the finish line (usually near the transition area). |
| Triathlon | A multi-sport event generally consisting of three stages. Most common structure is a swim-bike-run format. |
| T1 | Transition 1-Change area between swim and bike |
| T2 | Transition 2-Change area between bike and run |
| Washing Machine | Referring to an OW swim start |
| Waves | When a race does not start en masse, the RD will break it up into groups called waves. Often separated by gender and AG’s. |
| Running | |
| 5k | 3.1 miles |
| 10k | 6.2 miles |
| 1/2 Mary | Half marathon, 13.1 miles |
| Mary | Marathon, 26.2 miles |
| Ultra | Ultra Marathon. The most common distances are 50 and 100 miles, or 50 and 100 kilometers. Other distances/times include double marathons, 24-hour races, and multiday races of 1000 miles or even longer. |
| Triathlons | |
| Super Sprint | Short distance triathlon. (Distances can vary, but usually 0.25 mi/400m swim, 6.2 mi/10k bike, 1.5mi/2.5k run) |
| Sprint | Sprint distance triathlon. (0.5mi/750m swim, 12.4mi/20k bike, 3.1mi/5k run) |
| Oly | Olympic distance triathlon (0.93mi/1.5K swim, 24.8mi/40K bike, 6.2mi/10K run) |
| 1/2 IM or HIM or 70.3 | Half Ironman (1.2mi/1.9km swim, 56mi/90km bike, 13.1mi/21.1km run) |
| IM or 140.6 | Ironman distance (2.4mi/3.8km swim, 112mi/180km bike, 26.2mi/42.2km run) |
| Deca | 10x Iron distance. (24mi/38km swim, 1120mi/1800km bike, 262mi/422km run). There are also 2x. 3x, 4x, 5x, 15x, and 20x distances that have been raced. |
| Cycling | |
| Half Century | Bike ride of 50 miles |
| Century | Bike ride of 100 miles |
| Double Century | Bike ride of 200 miles |
| HalfMetric Century | Bike ride of 50 kilometers (31 miles) |
| Metric Century | Bike ride of 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) |
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