A few first thoughts:
* In the big picture, you’re wise to spend so much time getting ready for this. The fitter you are, the better you’ll do. And the longer you can (gradually, patiently) prepare, the fitter you’ll be.
* If you have ADS and two years to train, it’s way too early to even think of using ME. You’ll get much more benefit from ME training by first ridding yourself of ADS. You have the time to do so, so that should be your first priority.
* You normally manage 18mpd on weekend trips but you want to average 27mpd for 100 days. You’re planning to increase the daily load by 50% while also increasing the event duration by over 5,000%. Those are kinda gigantic increases. Why is 100 days the goal time?
And it sounds like 30mpd is needed for a 100-day duration. The following is from the PCTA:
The trail is 2,650 miles and it generally takes the entire snow-free season to walk. That’s about 5 months. Elite athletes who are experienced on the PCT have finished the trail in as little as two months. The few who achieve sub-100 day hikes average well over 30 miles per day.
I assume that the 30mpd average is because of rest days.
I don’t know anything about thru-hiking in general (other than the similarities with approaching alpine climbs) or the PCT in particular, but I think it would be wise to set your expectations using base rates. You can then adjust your expectations as you get closer to the objective and you have some interim trip objectives to use with your estimates. (I realize that you’ve been doing this a long time, but weekend trips versus a 100-day PR sound like different beasts to me.)
* I would adjust your mileage to your pack weight. My understanding of your plan is that you want to do the most miles when your pack is heaviest. I would reverse that. When you get resupplied at 24 pounds, do the minimum; at 8 pounds, the maximum. AS you described, shooting for a given duration per day will probably accomplish this naturally.
* Why not take recovery days? This seems like putting pride over performance. I’m not experienced with such long events, but I suspect that recovery days might allow you to travel faster overall. My first thought would be to use a 6-and-1 schedule.
To your questions:
Any advice in general about the type of ME training with the goal of long term fatigue management? Would it be different from the TFTNA or due to my low pack weight would something from the TFTUA book work better?
* As mentioned above, I wouldn’t even start with ME until your ADS is cured. You have the time to fix it, and you’ll be much better served by doing so.
* I think TftNA is more appropriate than TftUA. TftNA events are more similar due to the pack weight (and the style of ME when you’re ready for it).
Which training plan might I purchase to somewhat match my event? The help I’m looking for in a plan is the ordering of the workouts to manage my training load as my, “long” day(s) gets quite long (goal training hike(s) would be 27 miles and 5,000-foot elevation gain before the taper week).
The 24-week expedition plan would be the closest. But as you say, you’ll need to adjust it to be more specific to your goal event.