Hello, my name is Luis and I have been using Sufferfest and Wahoo System for a couple years with a lot of success for multiple single day events, now I am going to an Epic 7 day Stage MTB race, so I was wondering how I can use systm plans for a multistage event?, will be grateful if any of you can give some ideas…
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Hi @Triadicto, thanks for the note. You can absolutely use a SYSTM training plan and individual workouts for a multi-day event. However, there are a few considerations that you want to make first. Most notably, what are the demands of the event? How long are the stages and how demanding are they? Since you mentioned MTB I’ll make an assumption that each day day will be 2-4 hrs and lots of climbing, with variable efforts.
With this in mind some of the keys to success are just as they would be in any other multi-day event. First, no matter the plan, come into your event fresh, second, fuel well during each stage and third, maximize refueling and recovery between days. These three factors are important no matter what plan you follow.
With that said, you’ll want to choose a plan that has progressive amounts of back to back hard days-. You do NOT need to work up to 7 days of back to back efforts. In fact, I would not recommend doing more than 3 back to back high intensity days in a row with at least 1-2 days of recovery between. You’ll also want to make sure to add strength training to your plan. This will come into play the further into your race you get. A key factor is to get the diversity of training stimulus that you need without overdoing it. Including variety of stimulus (high cadence, big gear, micro efforts, etc.) throughout each week is a great way to keep the training fresh.
Choosing one of the High Volume XC (or marathon) MTB plans is a great start. These plans will gradually build with back to back days throughout the plan and will give you the variety of stimulus you need to succeed. If you feel you need more volume (I say this with caution 
) adding a second LOW intensity session once or twice a week is a way to get a touch more time in but also get your body ready to get back on the bike when your muscles are a bit stiff. If you choose to add that second session it should be easy and should not interfere with your ability to preform your main workouts. If it does, it’s too much. I hope this is helpful to you.
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