Hello everyone! I’m in week #8 of my transition period and I’m writing here hoping you could point me into the right direction with choosing the macrocycle most suitable for my goals.

Here’s my background:
– first time following a structured training program for endurance. Not my first time training regularly tho.
– I’m a 32yr old, Category 1, fat-hlete (planning to lose about 16kg in the next few months)
– The trail I train on is ±450m D+ and almost 6km long (car to car)

And some numbers for week #7 of the Transition Period:
– Total hours: 10:02 (skipped a Core & General Strength session due to an unplanned errand).
– Ascent: 2256m
– Distance: 37.66km
– Workout grades: A-. Workouts felt good. Haven’t had any problems completing them. Legs a bit sore after the long workout but nothing crazy.

My goals for August 2021:
– A 45km run with 3000m D+.
– Enjoying the summer in the Alps, climbing some easy-ish 4000m peaks in a day (most of these require 2500m D+).
– Ideally I’d like to have 4000m in my legs but I don’t know if that’s too lofty of a goal.

I was wondering if I should choose the “Cat 1, Preseasons Skimo Progression” macrocycle or the “Cat 1 First Time 50k” one. Or somehow mix them?

Due to COVID, sometimes the government shuts down movement between cities and I can’t make it to the trail. Sometimes it’s just pouring rain and the trail is prone to landslides. Are there any guidelines regarding substituting Vert for Distance? I live in a hilly area but in order to get the same amount of Vert I’d have to considerably increase the Distance as well.

Sorry for the long post! If you’ve made it all the way here, thank you very much for reading and I’d love to hear what you think.