Learn to Love Running Program Week 7: Welcome to the Run/Walk

The week of workouts below is for SELF’s Learn to Love Running Program, our brand-new, beginner-friendly plan that will get you running 30 minutes nonstop! Here’s what you need to know to get started.

Now that you’re past the midpoint of the program, you’ll see a small change in terminology. Your three cardio sessions are now called run/walk instead of walk/run! The shift is subtle but meaningful: You’re now running more than you walk each time you hit the road, path, or treadmill, and in each interval too. You’re getting closer to the final goal of a 30-minute continuous run!

As you cruise through these middle weeks, you might not always feel jazzed to get those run/walks in. You may worry that means you’re truly not cut out to be a runner after all—don’t all runners jump at the chance to log miles?

But that’s actually a common misconception about the sport. Regular runners—myself included—feel ebbs and flows in motivation too, but we remain committed to the sport on a deeper level. That means, on days when we’re dragging, we find ways to tap into our why to stick with the overall plan.

Healthy lifestyle tips Relationship advice Life hacks for everyday living Personal development tips Relationship tips and tricks Week 7 at a Glance:

Welcome to your first run/walk! Today, your running intervals are longer than your walking intervals by a full minute. You’ll still walk first—the name simply describes the activity that makes up the bigger portion of the session (not the order).

The lengthier your running intervals become, the more important it is to keep them truly easy. Remember, your goal is an effort level of 3–4 on a scale of 1–10. If you ever feel like you’re pushing it a little too hard, go back to the talk test: You should be able to maintain a conversation, but not sing a song, mid-stride. Choose your warm-up and let’s get running!

Monday: Run/Walk Intervals

• 5-minute warm-up
• Walk 2 minutes, run 3 minutes (repeat 4 times)
• 5-to-10-minute cooldown
• Total time: 30–35 minutes

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Enjoy a full rest day or move through another one of our active recovery routines. Remember, there are four to choose from. At this point, if you haven’t tried them all yet, we encourage you to sample a new one! Take note of which moves feel the best for your body and keep them on hand anytime it needs a little extra TLC. Special callout: If your upper body’s feeling tight after your runs (which can happen if you round your shoulders or hunch them up to your ears), you may particularly enjoy Routine 3—the thoracic rotation stretch will feel extra amazing.

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Today, you’ll return to the second phase of the strength training routine designed just for runners. Now that you’ve had a couple of weeks to practice the moves, it’s a great time to see if you can pick up a slightly heavier weight for one or more exercises.

Remember, your goal is to finish with 1 to 3 reps in the tank. If you get to the end of 8 reps and think, I could’ve done 4 more—or if you don’t quite need the full two minutes of rest between sets—it’s a good sign you could handle a slightly heavier load. Your goal isn’t to lift to failure, but you do want to continually challenge your body to get stronger!

Wednesday: Strength Training Workout

What you need: A pair of dumbbells, a bench or step, and a mat for comfort.

Directions:

• Do 8 reps of your first exercise. (For single-sided moves, do 8 reps on both sides; for moves by time, follow the time allotted in the description.) Rest 2–3 minutes. Repeat for 3 times total.
• Continue on to your next exercise, and repeat until you’ve completed the first 6 moves.
• Do 10–20 reps of the lateral pogo hops. Rest 2–3 minutes. Repeat for 3–4 times total.

Exercises:

• Kickstand Deadlift
• Reverse Lunge
• Half-Kneeling Overhead Press
• Bent-Over Row
• Front-Foot Elevated Single-Leg Calf Raise
• Short Lever Copenhagen Plank
• Lateral Pogo Hops

Kickstand Deadlift

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
• Place one foot a foot-length behind the other, heel elevated, so your stance is staggered. You’ll be working your front leg.
• Hinge at your hips to lower your body. Push your butt far back and keep your back flat. Your torso should be almost parallel to the floor.
• Keeping your core tight, push through your front heel to stand up straight. Keep the weights close to your shins as you pull up.
• Pause at the top and squeeze your butt. That’s 1 rep
• Complete all your reps on one side. Then switch sides and repeat.

This deadlift variation helps you build balanced strength on both sides of your body; your “kickstand” leg is pretty much only there for support—your planted leg does most of the work!

Reverse Lunge

• Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and engage your core. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides.
• Step backward with one foot, landing on the ball of your foot and keeping your heel off the floor.
• Bend both knees to 90 degrees as you sink into a lunge. Focus on keeping your core engaged and your hips tucked (don’t stick your butt out).
• Push through the heel of your planted foot to return to the starting position. This is 1 rep. Complete all your reps on one side, then switch sides.

The reverse lunge works your quads and glutes, and helps with single-sided strength as well.

Half-Kneeling Overhead Press

• Start in a half-kneeling position. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand at shoulder level with your palm facing in and your elbow bent. Rest your left arm on your left thigh. This is the starting position.
• Press the dumbbell overhead, straightening your elbow completely. Make sure to keep your core engaged and hips tucked to avoid arching your lower back as you lift your arm.
• Slowly bend your elbow to lower the weight back down. Reverse the motion to the starting position.
• This is 1 rep. Complete all your reps on one side, then switch.

This upper-body exercise works your shoulders and your triceps, the small muscles along the backs of your upper arms.

Bent-Over Row

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms at your sides.
• With your core engaged, hinge forward at the hips, pushing your butt back. Bend your knees and make sure you don’t round your shoulders. (Your hip mobility and hamstring flexibility will dictate how far you can bend over.)
• Gaze at the ground a few inches in front of your feet to keep your neck in a comfortable position.
• Do a row by pulling the weights up toward your chest, keeping your elbows hugged close to your body and squeezing your shoulder blades at the top of the movement. Your elbows should go past your back as you bring the weight toward your chest.
• Slowly lower the weights by extending your arms toward the floor. That’s 1 rep.

This classic compound exercise primarily works your back muscles, which is important for proper running form. Your biceps—the small muscles along the fronts of your upper arms—come in to assist.

Front-Foot Elevated Single-Leg Calf Raise

• Stand in front of a sturdy chair, box, or step. Place one foot on the raised surface, knee bent 90 degrees. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
• Exhale and slowly lift the heel of your foot on the floor as far as you can. Hold briefly and inhale as you slowly lower back to the floor. This is 1 rep.
• Complete all your reps on one side. Then switch sides and repeat.

This progression of the single-leg calf raise helps you keep building strength in these important lower-leg muscles.

Short Lever Copenhagen Plank

• Start in a forearm side plank by propping your body up on your right forearm, with your elbow stacked underneath your shoulder and your hand in front of your body.
• Place your left leg on top of a bench, chair, or other stable surface, with your knee bent 90 degrees. Hover your right leg slightly underneath, with that knee also bent 90 degrees.
• Hold 20-30 seconds. Repeat on the other side.

This isometric exercise is an obliques burner! If you find this move too challenging, repeat the side plank from Weeks 1–4 instead.

Lateral Pogo Hops

• Stand with your feet close together, hands on your hips or at your sides.
• Jump straight up and to the left, focusing on getting both high off the ground and traveling sideways.
• Land on the balls of your feet, then jump up and to the left again as quickly as possible. (Picture a pogo stick!)
• Complete 10–20 reps to one side, then repeat on the other side.

This plyometric exercise helps build balance, power, and explosiveness.

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Your second run/walk—love how that sounds!—is a repeat of the first session. For this one, aim to focus on keeping your breath smooth and steady.

A few weeks ago, we talked about timing your breath to your footfalls, and maybe even counting from 1 to 10. You can also try bringing attention to your breath as it travels from your nose and mouth to your belly and back out. Notice the temperature of the air you inhale, and how it changes as you exhale.

Thursday: Run/Walk Intervals

• 5-minute warm-up
• Walk 2 minutes, run 3 minutes (repeat 4 times)
• 5-to-10-minute cooldown
• Total time: 30–35 minutes

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It’s another full day off! As you rest and recover, check in on your energy levels. Yes, running is a demanding activity. But if you’re building up your mileage and intensity gradually—and if you’re following along with this program, you will be!—you should feel more energetic throughout your day rather than fatigued.

If, instead, you’re dragging, it might be time to look at external factors and see if there are ways to adjust and better support your running. For example:

• Are you getting enough restful sleep at night? (Most experts recommend 7 to 9 hours per night.)
• Are you eating enough to support your training? (Nutrition is beyond the scope of this program, but many runners, even recreational ones, are underfueling—here are some other signs this might be the issue for you.)
• Are there other major sources of stress in your life? Can you add more calming, stress-relief practices to cope with those you can’t escape?

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During today’s longer effort, you’ll run 3.5 minutes at a time, with 1.5 minutes of walking in between. You definitely want to get in a good warm-up and cooldown here!

You may notice that there’s a bit of a longer walk before you get to your first running segment, and again after you finish. That’s to give you a longer ramp for the warm-up and cooldown, and to continue building your endurance by keeping you on your feet for the full 40–45 minutes.

Saturday: Long Run/Walk Intervals

• 5-minute warm-up
• Walk 2.5 minutes
• Walk 90 seconds, run 3.5 minutes (repeat 5 times)
• Walk 2.5 minutes
• 5-to-10-minute cooldown
• Total time: 40–45 minutes

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Another week down, another week closer to goal! As we discussed at the beginning of the week, long-term runners know they sometimes have to tap into their deeper commitment rather than rely on their day-to-day motivation levels.

You spent some time in Week 4 reflecting on your why; as we close out Week 7, go back to those deeper underlying reasons for taking on this challenge. Think about all the ways running is already serving these bigger purposes in your life. And look forward to taking even more strides toward your most meaningful goals in the weeks ahead.

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Photography: Katie Thompson. Wardrobe styling: Kathleen Thomas. Hair: Walton Nunez. Makeup: Miranda Richards.

Athletes in order of appearance: Laura Girard, a NASM-certified personal trainer and founder of The Energy Academy, wears: Alo jacket, sports bra, shorts, and sneakers, and Comme si socks; Amanda Katz, a certified personal trainer and running coach in New York City, wears: Adanola top and shorts, Nike sneakers, and socks; Ameerah Omar, city captain and mindset coach for Adidas Runners NYC, wears: Alo sports bra and leggings, Nike socks, and Hoka sneakers; Morit Summers, a Brooklyn-based trainer and the owner of body-positive gym, Form Fitness Brooklyn, wears: Lululemon top and leggings, Aerie sports bra, and Nike sneakers.