$29 one-time
- The full 16-week plan as a PDF, from Kristina
- Every session added to your phone's calendar, from your start or race date
- Phaes Insights free for 18 weeks
- Gym and home versions of every exercise
Secure checkout with Stripe. No account needed.
Want it to adapt to you every day? Get it coached in the app: $9.99 a month, first week free.
Who this plan is for
You are an experienced runner with a marathon or more behind you, your 50K is about 16 weeks away, and you want to arrive strong rather than just high-mileage.
Kristina Folcik wrote it for women in perimenopause and menopause, when the old way of training (lots of miles, tempo runs, light weights for high reps) tends to leave you tired, stalled, or hurt. It works with or without MHT (HRT).
- 30 to 45 minutes of sprints or hill repeats mid long run
- Heavy strength four days a week, 5 sets of 3
- One sprint session and one HIIT circuit a week
- A reset week every fourth week, a taper, then race week
How it trains you differently
In Kristina's words, it takes a while to wrap your head around a new way to train. The plan follows her method for this stage of life:
- Skip the middle zones. One short sprint interval session a week replaces tempo runs, with one HIIT circuit on leg day, the day after the sprints.
- Easy runs are very easy. They are active recovery, not junk miles.
- Strength sessions are challenging. Lift heavy for you, 5 sets of 3.
- A reset week every fourth week. No intensity and lighter weights in weeks 4, 8 and 12, so you absorb the work.
- One full rest day a week, physical and emotional, and more protein to support the muscle you are building.
Her advice is to give it a few weeks: in her experience, women on this method find they have more energy and fewer niggles. Read more about her method in a marathon build, sprint interval training, and why reset weeks matter.
Sample weeks, day by day
Here are three weeks exactly as they appear in the plan: the first week, the first reset week, and the hardest week. Tap a day to see its sessions.
How the 16 weeks are built
Three weeks of building, then a reset week, repeated, with a taper and race week at the end. The long run peaks at about 4 hours.
Show as a table
| Week | Type | Running | Long run |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Build | 4 h 9 min | 1 h 30 min |
| 2 | Build | 4 h 25 min | 1 h 45 min |
| 3 | Build | 4 h 57 min | 2 h |
| 4 | Reset | 4 h | 1 h 20 min |
| 5 | Build | 5 h 14 min | 2 h 15 min |
| 6 | Build | 5 h 47 min | 2 h 30 min |
| 7 | Build | 6 h 5 min | 2 h 45 min |
| 8 | Reset | 4 h 30 min | 1 h 50 min |
| 9 | Build | 6 h 39 min | 3 h |
| 10 | Build | 7 h | 3 h 20 min |
| 11 | Build | 7 h 15 min | 3 h 35 min |
| 12 | Reset | 5 h 20 min | 2 h 20 min |
| 13 | Build | 7 h 40 min | 4 h |
| 14 | Build | 6 h 55 min | 3 h 30 min |
| 15 | Taper | 5 h 20 min | 2 h 30 min |
| 16 | Race week | 55 min | None |
The strength sessions
5 sets of 3, 3 min rest between sets. As heavy as you can hold form. Leave 1 rep in reserve on the last set. Every session ends with core. Each exercise has a gym version and a home version.
Arms + calves
- Biceps Barbell curl or at home: Dumbbell curl
- Triceps Close-grip bench press or at home: Weighted dip
- Calves Standing calf raise or at home: Single-leg calf raise
- Core Hanging knee raise or at home: Hollow hold
Legs
- Quads Back squat or at home: Bulgarian split squat
- Hamstrings Romanian deadlift or at home: Single-leg Romanian deadlift
- Adductors Adductor machine or at home: Copenhagen plank
- Core Pallof press or at home: Side plank
Push and pull
- Chest Bench press or at home: Weighted push-up
- Back Weighted pull-up or lat pulldown or at home: Band-assisted pull-up
- Shoulders Standing overhead press or at home: Dumbbell shoulder press
- Core Plank or at home: Plank
Posterior
- Glutes Barbell hip thrust or at home: Single-leg hip thrust
- Lower back Back extension or good morning or at home: Superman hold
- Hips Dumbbell curtsy lunge or at home: Cossack squat
- Core Dead bug or at home: Dead bug
HIIT: Once a week on leg day, before your leg strength. Warm up 5 min. Then 20 min: 4 moves, 5 sets each of 45 s work, 15 s rest. Moves include squat jumps, skater hops and single-leg hops, with a no-jump version (squats, lunges, calf raises) if your lower legs hurt.
Fixed plan or coached?
The plan, $29 once
The same 16 weeks for every woman at this level, as a PDF, in your calendar and in the Phaes app. You follow it; you adjust it yourself on bad days. Includes Phaes Insights for 18 weeks.
Phaes Coach, $9.99 a month
The same method, built into a plan that changes every day with your sleep, energy, symptoms and cycle, with a coach you can ask to move things around. First week free. Start with Coach.
$29 one-time
- The full 16-week plan as a PDF, from Kristina
- Every session added to your phone's calendar, from your start or race date
- Phaes Insights free for 18 weeks
- Gym and home versions of every exercise
Secure checkout with Stripe. No account needed.
Want it to adapt to you every day? Get it coached in the app: $9.99 a month, first week free.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the longest run?
The long run builds to about 4 hours in week 13, then tapers. Build-week long runs carry 30 to 45 minutes of sprints or hill repeats in the middle.
Four strength days during ultra training?
Yes, at the advanced level: short, heavy sessions of 5 sets of 3 with long rests, split by body part so no session is long. Lifting heavy is the core of the method at every level.
Who are these plans for?
Women in perimenopause and menopause, and women over 40 who want to train this way. Kristina wrote the method for changing hormones, with or without MHT (HRT).
What do I get when I buy?
An email from Kristina with your plan as a PDF, plus Phaes Insights free for the length of the plan and 2 more weeks. Sign up in the app with the same email you paid with and Insights turns on automatically.
What is the difference between the plan and Phaes Coach?
The plan is fixed: the same weeks for everyone at that level, for a one-time price. Phaes Coach builds the same method into a plan that adapts every day to your sleep, energy, symptoms, and cycle, for $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year, with a free first week.
Do I need a gym?
No. Every strength exercise has a gym version and a home version. Heavy means heavy for you.