What your preparation actually looks like

Adaptation doesn't happen during training — it happens during recovery. After a hard weekend, Monday is where the fitness from Saturday and Sunday is actually built. Skipping this in favour of an extra run is one of the most common mistakes in MDS preparation. Sarah's previous training had no structured recovery; this is a deliberate correction.

MDS race weight is 8–10kg. Introducing pack load now — at week 10 — gives 6 weeks of progressive loading before race day. Starting at 6kg targets the connective tissue, shoulder stabilisers, and postural muscles that need to perform under load on Day 3 and 4 of MDS when fatigue accumulates. Progressive loading builds tolerance methodically.

MDS is won and lost on aerobic efficiency. The race is six consecutive days — athletes who rely on glycogen burn through it by Day 2. Zone 2 training shifts the body toward fat oxidation, meaning Sarah can sustain effort for longer without bonking. This 90-minute session is deliberately easy: the goal is time on feet at an effort she can repeat every day of race week.

Sarah lives in Bristol. She will race in the Moroccan Sahara in April, where temperatures regularly exceed 40°C. Heat adaptation triggers measurable physiological changes — increased plasma volume, lower core temperature at a given effort, improved sweat response — but these adaptations take 10–14 days to fully develop and require consistent exposure. This session, done in a heated gym, begins that process. By race week, her body will already know how to cope.

Single-leg exercises — step-downs, Bulgarian split squats, lateral band work — train the glutes and hip abductors to hold position under fatigue. This session builds the strength foundation needed for consistent running under load. It's critical for multi-stage preparation.

This is the week's key session. It combines three MDS-specific demands simultaneously: duration, pack weight, and terrain variety. Running 2.5 hours with 8kg on mixed trail forces the body to adapt to the exact mechanical stress of race day. James has scheduled this on Saturday — after the full week's accumulated fatigue — deliberately. Sarah needs to learn what it feels like to run well when already tired. That's the skill MDS demands.

MDS is six consecutive days of running. The body's ability to perform on Day 2 after Day 1 — and Day 3 after Day 2 — is the defining physical challenge of the race. This Sunday session teaches Sarah's legs to run on already-tired muscles. The pace is easy by design: the stimulus isn't fitness, it's the neuromuscular and psychological adaptation to moving when you don't feel fresh. This is a skill most training plans never develop.