$19 one-time
- The full 8-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 10 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 a beginner or returning runner, your first or next 5K is about 8 weeks away, and you want strength built in from day one.
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).
- Built for beginners: easy runs start at 20 minutes
- Two heavy strength days a week, 3 sets of 8
- One short sprint session a week, starting at 2 x 15 seconds
- A reset week at week 4, race week at week 8
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, 3 sets of 8.
- A reset week every fourth week. No intensity and lighter weights in week 4, 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 8 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 45 minutes.
Show as a table
| Week | Type | Running | Long run |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Build | 1 h 8 min | 30 min |
| 2 | Build | 1 h 15 min | 35 min |
| 3 | Build | 1 h 27 min | 40 min |
| 4 | Reset | 1 h 10 min | 30 min |
| 5 | Build | 1 h 29 min | 40 min |
| 6 | Build | 1 h 39 min | 45 min |
| 7 | Build | 1 h 39 min | 45 min |
| 8 | Race week | 35 min | None |
The strength sessions
3 sets of 8, 30 s rest between sets. Heavy for you, good form. Every session ends with core. Each exercise has a gym version and a home version.
Upper A
- Chest Dumbbell bench press or at home: Push-up
- Back One-arm dumbbell row or at home: Band row
- Shoulders Seated dumbbell shoulder press or at home: Pike push-up
- Core Plank or at home: Plank
Lower A
- Glutes Barbell or dumbbell hip thrust or at home: Single-leg glute bridge
- Hamstrings Romanian deadlift or at home: Single-leg Romanian deadlift
- Quads Goblet squat or at home: Split squat
- Core Dead bug or at home: Dead bug
Upper B
- Biceps Dumbbell curl or at home: Band curl
- Triceps Overhead dumbbell triceps extension or at home: Bench dip
- Core Side plank or at home: Side plank
Lower B
- Hips Dumbbell curtsy lunge or at home: Curtsy lunge
- Adductors Adductor machine or at home: Short-lever Copenhagen plank
- Abductors Abductor machine or at home: Banded clamshell
- Core Dead bug or at home: Dead bug
Lower C
- Lower back Back extension or at home: Superman hold
- Calves Standing calf raise or at home: Single-leg calf raise
- Core Plank or at home: Plank
HIIT: Once a week on leg day, before your leg strength. Warm up 5 min. Then 10 min: 2 moves, 5 sets each of 40 s work, 20 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, $19 once
The same 8 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 10 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.
$19 one-time
- The full 8-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 10 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
Is this a couch to 5K plan?
Close. It suits beginners who can walk briskly for 30 minutes and jog for a few minutes at a time. If you cannot run 20 minutes yet, walk the easy runs and build up; the strength and sprint sessions still work.
How many days a week is it?
Six active days and one full rest day. Easy runs, walks, and yoga fill the easy days; the hard work is one sprint session and two strength sessions.
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.