[Krizz]

I am no expert, but can tell you what I do. I keep it simple by following the plan’s duration and intensity guidelines, then in my longruns I try to get as much gain per kilometer as my goal race. Sometimes that means going slightly into Z3 on uphills or dipping slightly into Z1 on downhills, but generally I aim to stay in top half of Z2 for the most part.

Looking at your goal race of 8400ft/32miles = 263ft/mi — so your training plan’s requirement of 300-500ft/mi is more than the requirement. I would prefer to run the long run of the week on similar trails and with similar elevation gain to the goal event (also carrying all mandatory race kit, it makes a difference!).