Sunday 2 August 2026 · Week 7 · Sharpen, final day · Race Sun 9 Aug — 7 days out. Diary clear, inbox busy, and the last long run of the block.
Nothing in the diary. A clean Sunday — long run, family, early night.
Tomorrow, so it's not a surprise:
Prep: the doctor plan is finally booked. Go in with all three at once — lower back, calcium deposits in neck & back, foot cramps — plus a race six days later. Write the list today so you don't walk out with one of the three sorted.
42 items overnight. Four actionable — three Wanda, one family.
Everything else was noise: job alerts (Indeed ×3, Seek, LinkedIn, Marriott), newsletters (Ben Greenfield, The Running Week, Substack ×2, SBS), marketing (Uber One, Emirates, Vestiaire, Timeleft, Akarali, guitar school).
Week 7 · Sharpen · final day. Race Sun 9 Aug — 7 days out. Load rule: two running-impact days a week. Friday's race-pace 4km was one. Today is the other — and the last long run of the block. Dress rehearsal, not a fitness test. Everything after today is subtraction.
TODAY (Sun) — 14km steady, "dialled in." 5:20–5:40/km, HR 130–145 (full sentences, not gasps). Split it 5 / 5 / 4 — settle, hold honestly, and only if the legs feel light take the last 2km to 4:50–5:00/km. Rehearse race morning exactly: same wake time, breakfast, shoes, gels, everything. Fuel at ~45min and ~75min. Finish with 2km in the tank.
Back twingy or HR drifting past 150 at the same effort → cut to 12km and walk the last kilometre. Seven days out, an aborted long run costs nothing; a strained back costs the race.
TOMORROW (Mon 3 Aug) — Week 8, taper opens. 20min easy Z2 (HR 122–134) + 15–20min mobility. It's meant to feel too easy.
Nothing new — eighth consecutive day. The Inbox holds the README and nothing else; the only movement was the machinery running itself.
Since 25 July the calendar has carried AI Education blocks, a Sleep Co Week 12 session and a Mick Lawrence meeting — not one has left a note behind. The system is immaculate and being fed nothing. Thirty seconds of dictation after any one of those blocks would change that.
Race week starts tomorrow. Today's job: 14km at a pace that feels almost lazy, then do nothing well for six days.
Sunday · Week 7 — Sharpen (final day) · Long Run: 14km steady, "dialled in." Race Sun 9 Aug — 7 days out.
Warm-up (10min) — 5min brisk walk / very easy jog, then leg swings ×10 each way per side, ankle rocks ×15/side, glute bridges ×12, and 3×20s strides at long-run pace with walk-back. Then start the clock.
Main set — 14km. Pace 5:20–5:40/km · HR 130–145 (conversational).
Race rehearsal (the real point): same wake time, same breakfast, same shoes, same gels, same hydration as next Sunday. Today is where you find the problem — not on race morning.
Cool-down (10–12min) — 5min walk · dead hang ×2 (30s) for the lower back · couch stretch 60s/side · pigeon 60s/side · calf/soleus wall stretch 45s/side · legs up the wall 5min with slow nasal breathing. Protein + carbs within the hour, salt with dinner, early night.
Finish with 2km in the tank — there is no prize for a hard 14km today and there is a penalty. Back twingy, or HR drifting past 150 at the same effort? Cut to 12km and walk the last kilometre.
Week 8 — taper opens: 20min easy Z2 on a low-impact machine (HR 122–134) + 15–20min mobility. It should feel too easy. That's the point.
Weights logging coming soon.