Decide what must improve first
You can become stronger while improving endurance, but the programme still needs a priority. A runner preparing for a half marathon may keep strength progressing slowly while protecting a long run and one quality running session. A lifter adding general conditioning may keep squat, bench and deadlift performance central while building easy mileage.
The priority determines which sessions get the freshest slots. Put those anchors into the week first. Everything else supports them.
A practical three-lift, three-run pattern
One possible pattern is a lower-body lift on Monday, an easy run on Tuesday, upper-body lifting on Wednesday, a quality run on Thursday, a second full-body or lower-volume lift on Friday and a long easy run on Sunday. Saturday becomes rest or light movement. This is an example, not a universal template; work, training age and total volume change the answer.
The logic matters more than the weekday names. The quality run is not immediately after the hardest lower-body session. The long run has space before the next heavy lower-body day. Upper-body work provides a place to train strength without adding the same local fatigue as another hard run.
When two sessions share a day
Double days can create a cleaner recovery day elsewhere. Use separate sessions when practical and do the higher-priority work first. Pair easy running with upper-body lifting more readily than intervals with heavy squats. Fuel between sessions, then judge the arrangement by whether key work stays productive over several weeks.
Progress the total workload carefully
Adding running while keeping every lifting set unchanged still raises total workload. Start new running at a manageable level. Increase distance or intensity gradually rather than pushing both at once. If lifting quality falls, reducing accessory volume is one option before changing the main movement.
RPE can help distinguish planned difficulty from a session that is drifting. RACK records effort per strength set, proposes next-set loads and can recalibrate later strength work. You can cap a set, change a load, swap an exercise or skip a session.
Keep both histories in one place
Runs recorded with Apple Watch can import through Apple Health with route and heart-rate data when available. RACK derives analysis such as splits from those data. Strength sessions are logged offline-first on iPhone, with rest timing and paired set logging available on Apple Watch.
RACK supports run plans from 5K through marathon distance. A run plan stays separate from hypertrophy, powerbuilding or powerlifting, but both appear on the same calendar. Run data does not change strength prescriptions automatically.
Evidence checked: A systematic review of same-session order found that doing resistance work first favoured lower-body strength, while aerobic gains were similar in either order. Treat order as a priority tool, not a universal rule.