Learn to Love Running Program Week 11: The Practice Run(s)

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 3src minutes nonstop! Here’s what you need to know to get started.

You’re down to the final two weeks of the program. We hope you’re as proud and excited as we are about your progress!

This week, your longest effort includes two significant chunks of nonstop running: 5 and 15 minutes apiece. It’s another one of the bigger jumps we talked about in Week 8—a confidence-booster for your goal effort. At this point, you’ve already built the cardiovascular base to go the distance. Now, it’s all about fine-tuning your mental preparations.

To that end, consider this week’s longer effort (and even the shorter ones) as a dress rehearsal for the big day next week! Think through what’s worked best for you throughout this program—the ’fit that makes you feel confident and comfortable, the timing that’s the smoothest, the warm-up you prefer, the pre-run snack that sits best in your stomach.

There will always be factors outside of your control on the day of your goal effort—the weather, for example. But if you plan out the details that are in your hands—such as when and what you eat, what you wear, and the time you start—you’ll feel that much more confident to handle any unexpected challenges that arise.

This week offers you a few more chances to practice any or all of those elements, so you’ll know exactly how to set yourself up for success next week.

Week 11 at a Glance:

Your running intervals today are a full 5 minutes long, with only 3src seconds of walking in between. As usual, you’ll warm up first and then dive in.

Remember that, as your running intervals continue to extend, it’s even more important to keep your effort level easy. Again, you should be able to talk but not sing the whole way through. It’s okay to slow down mid-run if you start to huff and puff a bit, but on the next interval challenge yourself to start out chill enough to maintain a steady effort the entire 5 minutes.

Monday: Run/Walk Intervals

• 5-minute warm-up
• Walk 3src seconds, run 5 minutes (repeat 4 times)
• 5-to-1src-minute cooldown
• Total time: 32–37 minutes

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Here in the thick of your build-up, rest and recovery days are even more important than ever. Either take this day completely off or do one of our active recovery routines. If your spine and shoulders have been feeling a little scrunched, might we suggest Routine 3? The thoracic rotation stretch can feel particularly soothing.

In addition to your muscles and joints, why not give your skin a little TLC too? Try these lip masks to soothe sun-kissed skin, lotions and creams for keeping your whole body hydrated, or serums to nourish and smooth your face. Your skin should feel as great as the rest of you—and taking time for yourself to do even a short skin care routine can be a form of self-care too.

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On today’s lifting day, you’ll repeat the exercises you’ve done the last two weeks. Consider picking up heavier weights if you can—and as you do, remember how much strength you’ve gained through this whole program!

Sure, you feel it when you do these exercises, but consider how it’s translated into your everyday life too. You may find it’s been easier to hoist your carry-on into the overhead bin, tote grocery bags up the stairs, or open that super-tight jar of pickles or peanut butter.

Wednesday: Strength Training Workout

What you need: A pair of dumbbells, a bench or step, and a mat for comfort. If you have a weight plate to elevate your foot for the calf raise, that’s great, but you can also use a low step, bench, or even a sturdy hardcover book.

Directions:

• Do 8 reps on each side for your first exercise. (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 5 moves.
• Do 1src–2src reps of the assisted single-leg pogo hops on each side. Rest 2–3 minutes. Repeat for 3–4 times total.

Exercises:

• Single-Leg Deadlift
• Step-Ups
• Bird Dog Row
• Isometric Calf Raise
• Copenhagen Plank
• Assisted Single-Leg Hop

Single-Leg Deadlift

• Stand with your feet together, holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your legs. This is the starting position.
• Shift your weight to one leg, and while keeping a slight bend in that knee, raise your other leg straight behind your body, hinging at the hips to bring your torso parallel to the floor, and lower the weight toward the floor.
• Keep your back flat. At the bottom of the movement, your torso and raised leg should be almost parallel to the floor, with the weight a few inches off the ground. (If your hamstrings are tight, you may not be able to lift your leg as high.)
• Keeping your core tight, push through your heel to stand up straight and pull the weight back up to the starting position. Bring your raised leg back down to meet your left, but try to keep the majority of the weight on your planted foot.
• Pause there and squeeze your butt. That’s 1 rep. Complete all your reps on one side, then switch sides.

If you’re extra wobbly, you can hold a dumbbell in one hand and lightly touch a wall or other sturdy object for support, or you can try the kickstand deadlift from Weeks 5–8 until you get more comfortable with the move.

Step-Ups

• Stand in front of a sturdy bench, box, or step, hands at your sides and feet hip-width apart.
• Step onto your surface with your right foot, then follow with your left foot. Pause for a moment when both feet are on top of the box, hip-width apart.
• With control, return your left foot to the floor, then step your right foot to the floor to return to your starting position. This is 1 rep. Complete all your reps on one side, then switch sides.

This move works your quads and your glutes.

Bird Dog Row

• Get into tabletop position on a bench. Make sure your shoulders, elbows, and wrists are stacked in a straight line and that your knees are in line with your hips.
• Hold a dumbbell in your right hand at arm’s length so it hangs slightly below the bench. Extend your left leg back, while maintaining a flat back. Think about driving your foot toward the wall behind you to incorporate more tension in the glutes. This is the starting position.
• Keeping your body as stable as possible, retract your shoulder blade as you pull the dumbbell toward your ribs to do a row. Hold briefly at the top of the movement (your elbow should be past your ribs; if you’re not able to pull it that far, then the weight may be too heavy).
• Slowly lower the weight by extending your arm toward the floor. That’s 1 rep.
• Continue to do all of the reps on the same side, then repeat on the other side.

The bird-dog row works your back and biceps, as well as provides a core challenge as your abs fight to stay stable. If you don’t have access to a bench, you could do the bent-over row from Weeks 5–9 instead.

Isometric Calf Raise

• Place the toes of one foot on a step, weight plate, or other slightly raised surface; your heel will hang off the back of it. Grab a dumbbell in the hand on that same side and hold onto the back of a chair, a wall, or other sturdy surface with your other hand for balance. Bend the knee of the other leg so your heel points to the ceiling.
• Push through the toes to do a calf raise; you’ll be standing on the ball of that foot.
• Hold for 2src–3src seconds, then repeat on the other side.

This isometric exercise hones in on the calf muscles in your lower leg, which help power you through your miles.

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. You can place your other hand on your hip or raise it in the air, whichever is more comfortable.
• Place your left leg on top of a bench, chair, or other stable surface. Hover your right leg slightly underneath.
• Hold 2src–3src seconds, then repeat on the other side.

If you find this move too challenging, repeat the side plank from Weeks 1–4 instead. To progress it a bit more, you can add an abduction: Instead of keeping both legs stacked and extended, you can raise your top leg in the air and hold.

Assisted Single-Leg Hop

• Stand in front of a sturdy chair, box, or step. Place one foot on the raised surface, knee bent 9src degrees. Keep your other foot on the floor.
• Hop straight up and down with the foot that is on the floor. Aim to land on the ball of your foot and then jump back up again as quickly as possible.
• Do 1src to 2src reps, then repeat on the other side.

This progression of the plyometric hop helps train power, explosiveness, agility, and balance.

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Today, you’ll repeat the same workout as earlier in the week: a warm-up followed by 3src seconds of walking and 5 minutes of running, four times through, ending with a cooldown. Once again, focus on keeping your transitions smooth, so you’re seamlessly moving from walking to running and back again. This will help prepare you for your longer sustained effort this week, where you’ll follow a 5-minute run and a walk break with a 15-minute running stretch.

Thursday Run/Walk Intervals

• 5-minute warm-up
• Walk 3src seconds, run 5 minutes (repeat 4 times)
• 5-to-1src-minute cooldown
• Total time: 32–37 minutes

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Time for your day of rest and recovery. Although this running program is nearing its end, your journey as a runner is (we trust!) just beginning. And while running is often pegged as a solo sport, finding community is both totally possible and incredibly rewarding.

So, even if you’ve been doing this program on your own, think about ways you may want to plug into the bigger running scene, whether that’s joining an in-person running crew, training for a 5K, using an interactive app like Strava or Nike Run Club, or just being the kind of person who meets another runner at a party and starts talking sneakers and sports bras.

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Say hello to your last long run/walk before the big day! After your warm-up and a two-minute walk, you’ll run for 5 minutes. Then, another 2-minute walk leads into a solid 15 minutes of running—the longest block you’ve taken on! Keep things slow, steady, and relaxed (again, aiming for that effort level of 3–4 on a scale of 1–1src).

15 minutes might feel like a lot, but think of it this way: The total duration you’re running today is the same as your run/walk earlier this week, it’s just arranged differently, in 5 + 15 minutes rather than four 5-minute blocks. So, you can focus on getting to the 5-minute and 1src-minute mark on your way to 15 minutes. Top runners frequently use this “chunking” technique to make even the longest efforts feel more manageable.

Remember, too, to consider this a dry run, where you practice the exact timing, gear, and route you’ll use next week as much as possible. Another adage top runners swear by: Nothing new on race day!

Saturday: Long Run/Walk Intervals (Sustained Effort)

• 5-minute warm-up
• Walk 2 minutes
• Run 5 minutes
• Walk 2 minutes
• Run 15 minutes
• Walk 2 minutes
• 5- to-1src-minute cooldown
• Total time: 36–41 minutes

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You made it to your final rest day of the week—and the last one before heading into your goal week! Think back through all the details you practiced this week and start to firm up plans for where, when, and how you’ll tackle your 3src-minute effort next weekend.

Now is also a great time to tap into your support system. As we mentioned earlier this week, even if running is a solo sport and you’ve been doing this program alone, you can find cheerleaders rooting for you to meet your goals. Update your friends and family—or anyone else who’s been invested in your journey, whether they’re a part of your everyday life or connected to you online—about how far you’ve come and your plans for your goal run next week.

I’ve long thought that one of the very best parts of running is this chance to have others cheer you on, whether that’s a partner or friend who sees what you’re doing and celebrates it or strangers clapping, ringing cowbells, and holding signs at races. Most of us don’t have that many opportunities for such a simple but validating show of support.

So take this one! Give the people in your corner a heads-up on what type of encouragement you’d like for the big day—whether it’s physically being there for your run next week or just texting “Go you!”—and you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised at how your people show up for you.

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

Athletes in order of appearance: 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; 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; and Ameerah Omar, city captain and mindset coach for Adidas Runners NYC, wears: Alo sports bra and leggings, Nike socks, and Hoka sneakers.

Main image: Summers wears Lululemon top and leggings, Aerie sports bra, and Nike sneakers; Omar wears Alo top, leggings, and sports bra, Nike socks, and Hoka sneakers.