Just like any hobby or interest, there’s a certain jargon to accompany and running is no exception. We speak in a foreign language at times. Runners will talk of BQs and PRs. We’ll discuss pronation, tempo pace, or Gu. Perhaps one of the oddest topics to dissect is when runners speak of their injuries. They may refer to their IT band or their need to go home and R.I.C.E.

We runners all can share a war story of an injury as the sport can demand a lot from the body. Next time you catch a runner slip into an obsolete vernacular about running injuries, here’s a heads up as to what they’re probably taking about.

Below is a list of some of the most common runner’s injuries. There seems to be an overarching theme behind the cause of most runner’s injuries: over-use, improper footwear, or lack of stretching.

1. Shin Splints
Shin splints are typically felt as a pain on the inside of the shin. Most splints are caused by a biomechanical flaw in one’s running gait, however many times a proper fitted shoe can correct those flaws. Other major culprits in the cause of shin splints is over training or overuse and tight calf muscles in need of stretching

2. Plantar Fasciitis
Often runners will refer to the annoying pain in their foot as PF. PF is a pain in the middle of the foot arch. Again, tight calf muscles are partly to blame. Other causes are an abnormal motion of the foot called excessive pronation. In long distance running the foot should strike the ground on the heel and roll forward to the toes and finally inward to the arch. If the arch dips too low excessive pronation is taking place and easily going to stress that tendon causing PF.

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Look what washed up on the Australian shore! It’s Taylor Swift in a bikini. Not hard to believe, the country music starlet is perennially fit and gorgeous.

The 22-year-old is currently rocking her international Speak Now tour. And while the bus may be weighed down in industry accolades thanks to her 13 million albums sold, she’s hardly contributing to the poundage.

She loves to pull the bus in to Cracker Barrel for a meal of eggs and biscuits, which considering that menu, is pretty tame of her. She also likes the restaurant’s apple butter and keeps it in her fridge. The down-to-earth country star keeps it real when it comes to eating though, and says she maintains an internal barometer of how healthy or not she’s been for the week, and then makes adjustments. You’ll also rarely see Taylor without water, as she keeps a bottle on hand at all times knowing how important hydration is to maintain such an impossible schedule as she does.
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Ricky Gervais is going to make that tuxedo look pretty good tonight. In 2010, inspired by his girlfriend, Gervais lost more than 20 pounds. He said at the time that it wasn’t about the weight, but instead, “It was more that I was a fat, lazy, out of shape slob, to be honest.”

Nothing could be further from a description of tonight’s Golden Globes host, a gig that requires as much energy as it does personality and thick skin. This will be the British actor’s third go at hosting the awards show, which can foreshadow the upcoming Oscars. He’s brutally honest, but with that brutally entertaining, which is what these often cut-and-paste awards shows can need to hold an audience’s attention. Last year, Gervais’ biggest joke might have been about the collapse of Charlie Sheen; this year, a bounty of Hollywood divorces in recent news could fuel his sharp tongue.

Gervais’ weight loss first made headlines in 2010, when we first reported on it. Fortunately, his focus on fitness hasn’t waned in the past year. At that time, he credited much of his weight loss to the sport of running, something he and his girlfriend Jane Fallon enjoy doing together in their Hampstead Heath, London neighborhood; or, when traveling, he’ll pound the pavement in NYC first thing in the morning.
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Today was an amazing day for marathon running. Houston, Texas was the stage for all the qualified contenders to race for a spot on this year’s United States Olympic marathon team. The team has been determined and Team USA is going to be strong in London this summer.

Marathoners across the country have been busting their tails to even make the qualifications for the trials. For a man to enter the trials he had to run a 2:19 or better marathon, a 1:05 or better half marathon, or a 28:30 or better 10K race. The women’s standards for “A-Standard” qualification is a time of 2:39 or better in the marathon. “A-Standard” qualifiers receive a paid trip to the trials, there is no “B-Standard” for the men anymore. However, the “B-Standard” remains for the women. These women are entered based on a 2:39:01-2:46 marathon, a 1:15 or better half, or a 33:00 10K. The field was big this year and it was full of amazingly fast runners. The top three male and female finishers made the Olympic Team for this summer’s London games.
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I got my first iPod in the summer of 2007. I got the small nano model that would be easy for carrying with me on a run. I had just started running and needed all the noise possible to drown out my huffing and puffing. Among that noise was the gentle sounds of Ben Gibbard’s voice. Gibbard is the lead singer for Death Cab for Cutie. I was thrilled to learn that as I began my painful path to becoming a runner, listening to him through my headphones, he was beginning his own running journey, too.

Ben was recently highlighted in the “I’m a Runner” feature of Runner’s World Magazine’s February 2012 issue. He explained how he began an unexpected quest to becoming a runner in 2007. Just like many young adults, the unhealthy lifestyle Gibbard could get away with in his 20s began to catch up to him. He also explained how he used running as a good habit to replace some of his bad habits, such as heavy drinking.

Gibbard’s description of the pains and struggles he felt just getting his body to run those first few miles was entertaining. “I had to wage a war of attrition with my own body. One day, my knee would hurt. The next day, my ankles would hurt, then my shins would hurt. That went on for months.”

Even a rockstar can’t escape the humble, dirty side of running that all beginners must go through.
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