The dreaded taper...

I can't think of anything worse (well, yes I can...) than wanting to run and not running. This is the informal definition of tapering before a marathon. Even worse would be wanting to run and not being able to due to injury, etc. The taper takes many forms and shapes for different people. Some people can power through them and keep running their usual mileage. I like to take it easy the week before a marathon with a couple of short, easy runs. This makes me crawl out of my skin, particularly not running on the Sat before the Sun marathon. Saturday is usually one of those days where one should have time to bust a move long or short and fast. Taking Saturday off is pretty much anathema. Even worse (maybe) is taking a couple of days off on the other end of the marathon due to soreness, exhaustion, complacency, laziness, etc. That gets old real fast... The good news is that I usually don't change up my schedule too much other than the week before and the week after a marathon. I don't have a long complicated taper starting weeks in advance. What does your taper look like, so to speak?