Wednesday 5 August 2026 · four days to City to Surf. Today the plan says one word: REST. The calendar is nearly empty, you're banned from training — there is no better window for the things that have been waiting.
Duplicate entry — this block appears twice in Outlook. Delete one before the next program starts.
Prep flag: this is the session that should produce the Sleep Co research scope — the handoff from twelve weeks of learning into actual work. Bring the open list: AU hotel market sizing by segment, Eight Sleep/Aura economics and licensing, the sleep-science evidence base, pilot and measurement protocol.
Tomorrow: 08:00 AI Education · 09:00 Sleep Co 12-Week Review (reflection) · 10:15 P3 Recovery call with Nick Abrahams (Zoom).
Family, no action: Tena and Chris are in Tekapo next week and will detour to Ashburton with the Work & Income papers — off your list. Related: St John alarm install tomorrow ~10:45 NZT — confirm it's diarised.
Everything else was job alerts and newsletters. Carried from yesterday: BAS Q4-2026 and the Trust Tax 2026 draft — status unknown after yesterday's 9am.
Week 8 · TAPER / RACE WEEK. City to Surf 14km, Sun 9 Aug — four days out. Target ~65min (4:38/km).
Load rule: the work is done. Nothing between now and Sunday adds fitness; plenty of things could subtract from it. Today is the deepest point of the taper.
TODAY (Wed 5 Aug) — REST. If you insist on something: a 15-minute easy walk, flat, conversational, HR under 110. That's the ceiling, not the target. Zero running, strength, intervals or rower.
Do this instead (20min): dead hang ×3 @ 30s · calf and soleus wall stretch 45s/side · couch stretch 60s/side · pigeon 60s/side · 90/90 hip rotations ×8/side · legs up the wall 8min.
The levers that matter more than any session: hydrate and salt with every meal starting today — Sunday's cramps are decided Wednesday. Early night. Lay the kit out once and stop thinking about it.
The taper itch is real and it makes people do stupid things on Wednesday. If you're twitchy, walk. Don't train.
TOMORROW (Thu 6 Aug) — 2km very easy + visualisation. ~6:00/km, HR under 130, then ten minutes rehearsing the race: the start funnel, settling through the first 3km, Heartbreak Hill, the negative split into Bondi.
Nothing new filed — the Inbox is empty and stayed empty. Only system housekeeping touched.
Round 9 interview (energy & focus) is prepared and unrun for the third day. Six questions, ~15 minutes by voice. One-hour calendar, banned from training — there is not going to be a better window before the race.
Four days out. The best training session available to you today is a nap.
Wednesday · Week 8 taper trough · REST DAY — four days to City to Surf.
The work is done. Nothing you do today adds fitness. Plenty could subtract from it. Full rest is the plan's first preference.
Optional movement — the ceiling, not the target: 15-minute easy walk. Flat. Conversational. HR under 110. No incline, no “brisk”, no treadmill.
Not today: running · strength · chin-ups · intervals · rower · anything hard after the sauna.
Decompression & mobility — 20min. This is the actual session:
Levers that outrank any session this week: hydrate and salt with every meal — Sunday's cramps are decided today, not race morning. Early night. Lay the kit out now: shoes, number, pins, socks, nutrition.
The taper itch is real and it makes people do stupid things on Wednesday. If you're twitchy, walk. Don't train.
2km very easy (~6:00/km, HR under 130) + ten minutes of race visualisation — start funnel, first 3km restraint, Heartbreak Hill, negative split into Bondi.
Weights logging coming soon.