diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-network.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-network.yml
index d25e6a76d04c..5004d532929f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-network.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-network.yml
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ on:
         description: "Source tag that triggered this deploy"
         required: false
         type: string
+      notify_on_failure:
+        description: "Whether this workflow should send its own failure notification"
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: true
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       network:
@@ -74,6 +79,11 @@ on:
         description: "Source tag that triggered this deploy"
         required: false
         type: string
+      notify_on_failure:
+        description: "Whether this workflow should send its own failure notification"
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: true
 
 concurrency:
   group: deploy-network-${{ inputs.network }}-${{ inputs.namespace || inputs.network }}-${{ inputs.aztec_docker_image || inputs.semver }}-${{ github.ref || github.ref_name }}
@@ -242,7 +252,7 @@ jobs:
           } >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
 
       - name: Notify Slack and dispatch ClaudeBox on failure
-        if: failure()
+        if: failure() && inputs.notify_on_failure
         env:
           SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AZTEC_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/weekly-proving-bench.yml b/.github/workflows/weekly-proving-bench.yml
index b8b383a23022..654a38c610a5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/weekly-proving-bench.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/weekly-proving-bench.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: Weekly Real Proving Benchmark
 
 on:
   schedule:
-    - cron: "0 6 * * 1"  # Every Monday at 6 AM UTC
+    - cron: "0 6 * * 1" # Every Monday at 6 AM UTC
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       nightly_tag:
@@ -15,8 +15,11 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
-  real-proving-benchmark:
+  select-image:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      nightly_tag: ${{ steps.nightly-tag.outputs.nightly_tag }}
+      docker_image: ${{ steps.nightly-tag.outputs.docker_image }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd
@@ -32,12 +35,15 @@ jobs:
             current_version=$(jq -r '."."' .release-please-manifest.json)
             nightly_tag="${current_version}-nightly.$(date -u +%Y%m%d)"
           fi
-          echo "nightly_tag=$nightly_tag" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+          docker_image="aztecprotocol/aztec:${nightly_tag}"
+          echo "nightly_tag=$nightly_tag" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "docker_image=$docker_image" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "Using nightly tag: $nightly_tag"
 
       - name: Check if Docker image exists
         run: |
-          DOCKER_IMAGE="aztecprotocol/aztec:${{ steps.nightly-tag.outputs.nightly_tag }}"
+          DOCKER_IMAGE="${{ steps.nightly-tag.outputs.docker_image }}"
           echo "Checking if Docker image exists: $DOCKER_IMAGE"
           if docker manifest inspect "$DOCKER_IMAGE" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "Docker image exists: $DOCKER_IMAGE"
@@ -46,6 +52,53 @@ jobs:
             exit 1
           fi
 
+  deploy-real-proving-network:
+    needs: select-image
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/deploy-network.yml
+    with:
+      network: prove-n-tps-real
+      namespace: prove-n-tps-real
+      aztec_docker_image: ${{ needs.select-image.outputs.docker_image }}
+      ref: next
+      notify_on_failure: false
+    secrets: inherit
+
+  wait-for-first-l2-block:
+    needs: deploy-real-proving-network
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 120
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
+        with:
+          ref: next
+
+      - name: Authenticate to Google Cloud
+        uses: google-github-actions/auth@6fc4af4b145ae7821d527454aa9bd537d1f2dc5f
+        with:
+          credentials_json: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Set up Cloud SDK
+        uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@6189d56e4096ee891640bb02ac264be376592d6a
+        with:
+          install_components: gke-gcloud-auth-plugin
+
+      - name: Wait for first L2 block
+        env:
+          GCP_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}
+        run: |
+          cd spartan
+          ./bootstrap.sh wait_for_l2_block prove-n-tps-real
+
+  benchmark:
+    needs: wait-for-first-l2-block
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
+        with:
+          ref: next
+
       - name: Run real proving benchmarks
         timeout-minutes: 180
         env:
@@ -59,20 +112,9 @@ jobs:
           RUN_ID: ${{ github.run_id }}
           AWS_SHUTDOWN_TIME: 180
           NO_SPOT: 1
+          SKIP_NETWORK_DEPLOY: "1"
         run: |
-          ./.github/ci3.sh network-proving-bench prove-n-tps-real prove-n-tps-real "aztecprotocol/aztec:${{ steps.nightly-tag.outputs.nightly_tag }}"
-
-      - name: Cleanup network resources
-        if: always()
-        env:
-          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
-          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AZTEC_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          BUILD_INSTANCE_SSH_KEY: ${{ secrets.BUILD_INSTANCE_SSH_KEY }}
-          GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
-          GCP_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}
-          NO_SPOT: 1
-        run: ./.github/ci3.sh network-teardown prove-n-tps-real prove-n-tps-real
+          ./.github/ci3.sh network-proving-bench prove-n-tps-real prove-n-tps-real
 
       - name: Download benchmarks
         if: always()
@@ -81,7 +123,7 @@ jobs:
           AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
         run: |
           if ./ci.sh gh-spartan-proving-bench; then
-            echo "ENABLE_DEPLOY_BENCH=1" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+            echo "ENABLE_DEPLOY_BENCH=1" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
           fi
 
       - name: Upload benchmarks
@@ -100,13 +142,52 @@ jobs:
           fail-on-alert: false
           max-items-in-chart: 100
 
+  cleanup:
+    if: always()
+    needs:
+      - select-image
+      - deploy-real-proving-network
+      - wait-for-first-l2-block
+      - benchmark
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
+        with:
+          ref: next
+
+      - name: Cleanup network resources
+        env:
+          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AZTEC_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          BUILD_INSTANCE_SSH_KEY: ${{ secrets.BUILD_INSTANCE_SSH_KEY }}
+          GCP_SA_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SA_KEY }}
+          GCP_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}
+          NO_SPOT: 1
+        run: ./.github/ci3.sh network-teardown prove-n-tps-real prove-n-tps-real
+
+  notify-failure:
+    if: ${{ always() && failure() && github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' }}
+    needs:
+      - select-image
+      - deploy-real-proving-network
+      - wait-for-first-l2-block
+      - benchmark
+      - cleanup
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
+        with:
+          ref: next
+
       - name: Notify Slack and dispatch ClaudeBox on failure
-        if: failure() && github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch'
         env:
           SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AZTEC_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
-          TAG="${{ steps.nightly-tag.outputs.nightly_tag }}"
+          TAG="${{ needs.select-image.outputs.nightly_tag || 'unknown' }}"
           RUN_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
           ./ci3/slack_notify_with_claudebox_kickoff "#alerts-next-scenario" \
             "Weekly Real Proving Benchmark FAILED (nightly tag ${TAG}): <${RUN_URL}|View Run> (🤖)" \
diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
index 6b9c3f74b058..fbf32d2a2c2f 100755
--- a/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/bootstrap.sh
@@ -740,22 +740,24 @@ case "$cmd" in
     ;;
   "ci-network-proving-bench")
     # Args: <env_file> <namespace> [docker_image]
-    # Deploys network and runs proving benchmarks. Cleanup should be done separately.
+    # Deploys network and runs proving benchmarks. Set SKIP_NETWORK_DEPLOY=1 to run against an existing network.
     export CI=1
     env_file="${1:?env_file is required}"
     namespace="${2:?namespace is required}"
     docker_image="${3:-}"
     build
-    # If no docker image provided, build and push to aztecdev
-    if [ -z "$docker_image" ]; then
-      release-image/bootstrap.sh push_pr
-      docker_image="aztecprotocol/aztecdev:$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
-    fi
-    # Set up environment and deploy using spartan
     export NAMESPACE="$namespace"
-    export AZTEC_DOCKER_IMAGE="$docker_image"
-    spartan/bootstrap.sh network_deploy "${env_file}"
-    # Run proving benchmarks
+    if [ "${SKIP_NETWORK_DEPLOY:-0}" != "1" ]; then
+      # If no docker image provided, build and push to aztecdev
+      if [ -z "$docker_image" ]; then
+        release-image/bootstrap.sh push_pr
+        docker_image="aztecprotocol/aztecdev:$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
+      fi
+      export AZTEC_DOCKER_IMAGE="$docker_image"
+      spartan/bootstrap.sh network_deploy "${env_file}"
+    else
+      echo "SKIP_NETWORK_DEPLOY=1, running proving benchmarks against existing network '$namespace'."
+    fi
     spartan/bootstrap.sh proving_bench "${env_file}"
     rm -rf bench-out
     mkdir -p bench-out
diff --git a/ci.sh b/ci.sh
index 0a48e1b99ee1..4c6ed6765b94 100755
--- a/ci.sh
+++ b/ci.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ function print_usage {
   echo_cmd "network-scenarios"     "Spin up EC2 instances to run network scenario tests in parallel."
   echo_cmd "network-tests"         "Spin up an EC2 instance to run tests on a network."
   echo_cmd "network-bench"         "Spin up an EC2 instance to run benchmarks on a network."
+  echo_cmd "network-proving-bench" "Spin up an EC2 instance to deploy a network and run proving benchmarks. Set SKIP_NETWORK_DEPLOY=1 to skip deploy."
   echo_cmd "network-bench-10tps"   "Spin up an EC2 instance to run the 10 TPS benchmark on bench-10tps."
   echo_cmd "network-teardown"      "Spin up an EC2 instance to teardown a network deployment."
   echo_cmd "network-tests-kind"    "Spin up an EC2 instance to run a KIND-based spartan test."
@@ -253,11 +254,13 @@ case "$cmd" in
     ;;
   network-proving-bench)
     # Args: <scenario> <namespace> [docker_image]
-    # Deploys network and runs proving benchmarks.
+    # Deploys network and runs proving benchmarks. Set SKIP_NETWORK_DEPLOY=1 to run against an existing network.
     export CI_DASHBOARD="network"
     export JOB_ID="x-${2:?namespace is required}-network-proving-bench" CPUS=16
     export INSTANCE_POSTFIX="n-proving-bench"
-    bootstrap_ec2 "./bootstrap.sh ci-network-proving-bench $*"
+    skip_network_deploy=0
+    [ "${SKIP_NETWORK_DEPLOY:-0}" = "1" ] && skip_network_deploy=1
+    bootstrap_ec2 "SKIP_NETWORK_DEPLOY=$skip_network_deploy ./bootstrap.sh ci-network-proving-bench $*"
     ;;
   network-block-capacity-bench)
     # Args: <scenario> <namespace> [docker_image]
diff --git a/spartan/bootstrap.sh b/spartan/bootstrap.sh
index 15d908e4409b..c5932697e1a6 100755
--- a/spartan/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/spartan/bootstrap.sh
@@ -399,6 +399,13 @@ case "$cmd" in
       fi
     fi
     ;;
+  "wait_for_l2_block")
+    env_file="$1"
+    source_env_basic "$env_file"
+    gcp_auth
+    source_network_env "$env_file"
+    ./scripts/wait_for_l2_block.sh "$NAMESPACE"
+    ;;
   "single_test")
     run_network_tests "$1" "$2"
     ;;
diff --git a/spartan/scripts/wait_for_l2_block.sh b/spartan/scripts/wait_for_l2_block.sh
index f3b9278c4177..19f238234111 100755
--- a/spartan/scripts/wait_for_l2_block.sh
+++ b/spartan/scripts/wait_for_l2_block.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #   AZTEC_SLOT_DURATION - seconds per L2 slot
 #   AZTEC_EPOCH_DURATION - slots per epoch
 #   AZTEC_LAG_IN_EPOCHS_FOR_VALIDATOR_SET - epochs to wait for validator set
+#   AZTEC_LAG_IN_EPOCHS_FOR_RANDAO - epochs to wait for RANDAO seed
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
@@ -13,25 +14,36 @@ namespace="${1:?namespace is required}"
 
 slot_duration="${AZTEC_SLOT_DURATION:?AZTEC_SLOT_DURATION must be set}"
 epoch_duration="${AZTEC_EPOCH_DURATION:?AZTEC_EPOCH_DURATION must be set}"
-lag_epochs="${AZTEC_LAG_IN_EPOCHS_FOR_VALIDATOR_SET:?AZTEC_LAG_IN_EPOCHS_FOR_VALIDATOR_SET must be set}"
+validator_lag_epochs="${AZTEC_LAG_IN_EPOCHS_FOR_VALIDATOR_SET:?AZTEC_LAG_IN_EPOCHS_FOR_VALIDATOR_SET must be set}"
+randao_lag_epochs="${AZTEC_LAG_IN_EPOCHS_FOR_RANDAO:-$validator_lag_epochs}"
 
-# Time to first block = lag_epochs * epoch_duration * slot_duration + buffer
-# Add 2x buffer for deployment overhead, validator registration, etc.
-expected_wait=$((lag_epochs * epoch_duration * slot_duration))
-max_wait=$((expected_wait * 2 + 120))  # 2x expected + 2min buffer
+if [ "$validator_lag_epochs" -gt "$randao_lag_epochs" ]; then
+  lag_epochs="$validator_lag_epochs"
+else
+  lag_epochs="$randao_lag_epochs"
+fi
+
+# A fresh rollup needs lag + 1 complete epochs before the first committee-backed
+# block can be proposed. Add half an epoch plus 5m for deployment and RPC jitter.
+warmup_epochs=$((lag_epochs + 1))
+expected_wait=$((warmup_epochs * epoch_duration * slot_duration))
+buffer=$((epoch_duration * slot_duration / 2 + 300))
+max_wait="${L2_BLOCK_WAIT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS:-$((expected_wait + buffer))}"
 poll_interval=10
 
-echo "Waiting for L2 blocks (slot=${slot_duration}s, epoch=${epoch_duration} slots, lag=${lag_epochs} epochs)"
-echo "Expected first block in ~${expected_wait}s, max wait ${max_wait}s"
+echo "Waiting for L2 blocks (slot=${slot_duration}s, epoch=${epoch_duration} slots, validator_lag=${validator_lag_epochs}, randao_lag=${randao_lag_epochs})"
+echo "Expected first block after ~${expected_wait}s from genesis, max wait ${max_wait}s from now"
 
 rpc_pod="${namespace}-rpc-aztec-node-0"
+block_number_request="{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"method\":\"node_getBlockNumber\",\"params\":[],\"id\":1}"
 elapsed=0
 while [ $elapsed -lt $max_wait ]; do
-  block_number=$(kubectl exec -n "$namespace" "$rpc_pod" -- \
-    curl -s -X POST http://localhost:8080 \
-    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-    -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"node_getBlockNumber","params":[],"id":1}' 2>/dev/null \
-    | grep -o '"result":[0-9]*' | grep -o '[0-9]*' || echo "0")
+  block_number=$(kubectl --request-timeout=10s exec -n "$namespace" "$rpc_pod" -- \
+    sh -c "curl --max-time 5 -s -X POST http://localhost:8080 \
+      -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \
+      -d \"\$1\" \
+      | jq -r \".result // 0\"" \
+    sh "$block_number_request" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
 
   if [ "$block_number" -ge 1 ] 2>/dev/null; then
     echo "L2 block $block_number mined after ${elapsed}s"
@@ -39,8 +51,16 @@ while [ $elapsed -lt $max_wait ]; do
   fi
 
   echo "Waiting for L2 blocks... (${elapsed}s/${max_wait}s, block: ${block_number:-0})"
-  sleep $poll_interval
-  elapsed=$((elapsed + poll_interval))
+  sleep_for=$poll_interval
+  remaining=$((max_wait - elapsed))
+  if [ "$remaining" -lt "$sleep_for" ]; then
+    sleep_for=$remaining
+  fi
+  if [ "$sleep_for" -le 0 ]; then
+    break
+  fi
+  sleep "$sleep_for"
+  elapsed=$((elapsed + sleep_for))
 done
 
 echo "Warning: No L2 blocks mined after ${max_wait}s"