It means?

I do my share of reading up on running.  It's two of my favorite things combined so what can I say?  When I threw out some running terms the other day that, to tell the truth, I didn't know the exact definitions of - it bothered me.  Don't get me wrong, I had a fairly good idea of what they meant but if I had been pressed to go into detail about them I would have been limited and not really sure if I was being accurate.
So I did what I do.  I went back to the terms I had spewed in conversation and looked them all up so I would understand exactly what they meant.  Here they are:

Fartlek -  Funny, silly, elementary school giggle type of word.  It's Swedish for speed play.  This is simply combining short sprints with jogging usually several times during a 40-60 minute run.  That's it.  Sounds funny but it's simple.  Sprint, jog...fartlek.  (stop giggling)

Lactate Threshold -  How much more test lab and measurement beaker could this sound?  Lactic acid is a by-product of the anaerobic energy pathway, which is a process of blah, blah, scientific blah, blah, blah.  (At least that is the way it read to me).  What it seems to boil down to is that with high intensity exercise lactic acid is produced faster than the body can absorb it forcing a runner that has exerted this high intensity to back off and slow down.  It's that jack rabbit effect.  So run too hard, too quickly and you'll have to slow down or crash - you've reached your threshold.  Why didn't they just say that.

Negative Splits - This is not to be confused with the banana variety of splits or what that might do to your running.  This is completing the second half of a run or race faster than the first half.  It's a good thing to do.  Keep an even keel the first half so you have the energy (and don't build up all that lactic acid) before you're done.  Start slow, finish strong.

PR or PB - They mean the same thing and no the second doesn't stand for Peanut Butter.  It is simply Personal Record or Personal Best.  Time, time, time.  But your own time when you run a certain distance...not someone else's.  It's personal.
HR -  It doesn't mean Human Resources.  It is heart rate.  Although, if you are called in by HR it might have an affect on your HR.
LSD - Most people think this is the drug I take when they find out I have been out running for 2 1/2 hours.  That's not it, but it does have something to do with running a large amount of time.  It means Long Slow Distance which is what you get when you go out and run for 2 1/2 hours.

So, now I feel a little better about using these terms.  Actually, I feel a lot better.  I educated myself on something I should have already paid closer attention to.
I'm sure you appreciate the running terms lesson.  Sure you do.
TT