Each year, a whole lot of parents are ushered into the world of cross country. And, although cross country is not deep into jargon, there is jargon to be found.
For those needing the introduction, and for those who could use a refresher course, I present this rough-and-ready lexicon of cross country terms. Now you, too, can go to a meet and drop terms like a pro!
Bib - A fairly stiff piece of paper with a unique number on it safety-pinned to the front of a racer's singlet (see singlet). Most experienced runners like to crumple their bibs before racing, but this practice is frowned upon if a chip has been applied to the bib. Wrinkling the bib is likely to cause the chip not to read. See chip.
Boot - The fashion accessory of choice for the competitive running community. When a stress fracture has been diagnosed (and sometimes for lesser injuries as well), a runner will be assigned rest and a large black boot to walk in for a period of days or weeks while the injury heals sufficiently to allow for more weight-bearing.
Chip - An electronic device laced into the shoe, attached to the bib, or embedded on the earlobe (jk) of the runner. A sensing mat is placed at the finish line to detect the chip of each runner as he/she crossed the finish line.
Chute - Likely the most frequently misspelled word in cross country (it is chute, not shoot). This is the narrow area after the finish line that runners are lined up and herded into after finishing. It's also the place of choice for runners to pitch the contents of their stomach after a race (watch your back, as the saying goes). With chip timing, chutes are beginning to see less use as, presumably, the order of detection of chips determines the order of finish. See chip.
Criterium Course - A style of course where the race is run by completing two or more loops around a circuit instead of a single 5K loop. At the college and international levels, criterium courses are the norm (with loops usually being 2K in length). At the high school level, criterium courses are still gaining acceptance.
Displacer - In standard cross country scoring, each team has seven runners. Each runner of the seven earns a point total equal to his or her placement in the race. The team score is the sum of the point totals of the first five finishers. The other two runners are called displacers. And, a displacer can--and often does--impact the team scoring of the the meet. For example, if my sixth runner finishes ahead of your fourth and fifth runners, he or she has added a point to both of their scores, effectively adding two points to your team total by displacement.
Efficiency - A means of expressing (typically subjectively) how much wasted motion is involved in a runner's stride and posture. All other things being equal, a more efficient runner will be a faster runner and/or will experience less fatigue than someone who is less efficient.
Fartlek - Allegedly a Swedish word for "speed play." It's a workout where you go faster, then slower, then faster, then slower... until the coach decides you've had enough. 40 minutes into one of these workouts, "play" probably isn't the first word you would use to describe what you're doing.
Ferritin Test/Ferritin Count - A means of measuring the serum ferritin in a runner's blood. A runner with a count below 20 is cause for very high concern, even though a doctor without an appreciation of running may not be at all concerned about that count. Runners kill red blood cells with every footfall and so tend to have lower ferritin counts than the general population, though they need healthy levels of ferritin to run well. I won't offer medical advice here except to say that I'd be concerned and talking to somebody about supplementation if my ferritin count came back less than 40.
Intervals - A difficult workout where you typically go 3 - 5 minutes at race pace, then recover (this period is the "interval" for which the workout is named) for a slightly shorter period, then repeat. All told, most high school interval workouts will involve 15 - 25 minutes of hard running and typically a slightly shorter cumulative period of time of recovery. Ideally, though, the athlete stays active (at least walking around) during the "recovery" period.
Jewelry Rule - A relic of history. A runner can now race while breathing through a gauge in his or her earlobe if he/she so desires, or with large stainless steel bolt protruding through his or her tongue. The TSA would have a field day at some cross country meets these days, and even more so at track meets.
Lead Biker - Someone who rides a bike (often while adorned in a ridiculous amount of gear) in front of the competitors in a cross country race. Hopefully, the lead biker understands the course and knows where the turns are, but, unfortunately, this does not always turn out to be the case. See rabbit.
Pacer - Someone entered into a race for the purpose of setting a predetermined pace over a specified distance to being the race. Honestly, you see this a lot more in track than cross country and a lot more at higher levels of the sport than high school.
Pacing - When spectators or coaches run alongside a competitor or competitors in a race. Strictly forbidden. At least once in Colorado state meet history, a state title has been lost due to a runner disqualified on account of pacing.
Pack Time - The difference between the finishing time of a team's first and fifth runners (the first and last scoring runners). Generally, coaches consider a smaller pack time better than a larger pack time, but when you have a 15-minute 5K runner, you generally stop worrying about things like pack time. The screen shot below shows how pack time is often reported with team scoring in the meet results. In this case, the pack time is the number immediately before it says "1-5 Split":
Rabbit - At high school and higher levels of cross country, a rabbit is a small furry creature with long ears that occasionally runs across the course in dizzying bursts of speed. Rabbits come in two sizes, jack (larger) and cottontail (smaller). The practice of having someone lead the racers around the course by running at the front of the field is abandoned at high school and higher levels due to a severe shortage of qualified individuals. See lead biker.
(jack) rabbit
Racers - Shoes used for racing and sometimes some of the faster workouts. These shoes may be either flats (no metal protrusions) or spikes (with metal protrusions). In the photo below, the shoe shown is a spike shoe, but blanks have been inserted into the spike holes for a course where spikes aren't especially useful. Flats are a more general-use kind of race shoe and are suitable for courses with extended sections of ashphalt or concrete. Spikes are typically reserved for courses that are mostly dirt and/or grass. Either flats or spikes are usually about half the weight of training shoes. See trainers.
Recovery Pace - The pace at which you can run for 30 - 50 minutes and still be fully recovered from that and from the harder workout the day before for the next day of practice.
Shin Splint - A catch-all expression to indicate pain in the lower legs. This pain can be the result of poor or worn out shoes, inefficiencies or poor mechanics in stride, excessive running on hard surfaces, or simply overuse. They can often end up in a stress fracture. It's not a good idea to just hope the shin splints will go away. They rarely go away without rest.
Singlet - The upper piece of a racer's uniform. Some singlets are form fitting and others are not. Regardless, all singlets worn by a team must match in color and design (but not necessarily style). The single greatest controversy in Colorado high school cross country history centered around non-matching singlets. By rule, singlets must reach the shorts when a runner is standing at the start line.
Steady State - A pace of running a little elevated from recovery pace. Often part or all of a long run is executed at steady state pace. See recovery pace, threshold pace.
Stress Fracture - A fatigue-induced fracture of the bone. In running, this will happen as a result of repeated stress to the bone over time. This is to be considered a season-ending injury. The injury can occur in runners in the shin bone (most frequently), femur, pelvis, and metatarsals. See boot.
Stress Reaction - A precursor of a stress fracture. The bone is compromised but has not yet developed a fracture. See boot.
Strides (or, sometimes, Striders) - Brief bursts of speed (usually 100 meters or less) typically at the end of a practice that has been all or mostly recovery-pace running.
Threshold Pace - Comfortably hard running. Typically about 25 seconds per mile slower than 5K race pace. At this pace your breathing is still under control, and mile splits should be consistent throughout. Threshold pace workouts at the high school level typically last 15 - 25 minutes, depending on the athlete and point of the season. Running at this pace is designed to train the body to process the waste products of exertion at increasingly greater rates.
Trainers - Running shoes used for most days of practice. Many newer runners will also race in trainers, but eventually their coach lets them in on the secret that racers will make a difference of 10 - 15 seconds in their race time. There are good trainers and bad trainers, and a good trainer for one person may not be a good trainer for the next person. See you local running store to get analyzed for these shoes. See racers.
Training Through - Running a race as a workout and/or purposely in state of less than complete recovery rather than as a maximal effort.
VO2 Max - The maximum volume of oxgen your body can use, sometimes also called maximum oxygen consumption, while running. Note that the runner with the best VO2 Max does not always win, even if said runner runs at his or her VO2 Max--see efficiency. Interval workouts (see intervals) are aimed at increasing a runner's Max VO2. See vVO2 Max. If this term comes up, the conversation is drifting toward exercise physiology. Beware, it's easy to sound foolish if you don't really understand what you're talking about in these conversations. Interval workouts (see intervals) are aimed at increasing a runner's Max VO2. See vVO2 Max.
vVO2 Max - The velocity at VO2 Max, or the speed an athlete can run at their VO2 Max.
If I've missed a term or two, please let me know. This is a living document.