Longest run this weekend.

[Jay]

How far are you going to go this last weekend before the 8k, 1/2 marathon or marathon? I had planned to do 10 miles for the 1/2 marathon but I caught a bit of a cold on Friday. 5 is more reasonable. Maybe it's better to do the lighter work anyway. After all, this is supposed to be a taper!

[David Whitlow]

I'm running the full. I did 20 last Saturday (and had more difficulties than I expected). I'm falling back on the old musicans adage "Bad Practice = Good Gig". I'm kinda paranoid about any injury at this point so I've tapering back severely. Last Monday - 10, Yesterday - a slow and easy 5, maybe Monday another slow and easy 5 and after that just pasta and early bedtimes :)

[Manuel Alvarez Jr.]

I don't know if I would do it differently today, but I always liked to do a "depletion" run the weekend before a marathon. At least 14 or 15 miles. Then I would do no more than 3 miles a couple of times up to marathon day.
The club used to have a predict your time 15 miler on the Sunday prior to the marathon that was great for your final long run.

[Dan Wolf]

I'm running the half, and I did 7 this weekend. Did an easy 4 this morning. It was supposed to be 5, but my legs were pretty dead (did a lot of raking/bagging leaves yesterday) and I didn't feel like pushing it.

[Eileen]

Best wishes, Jay! You are going to do Great! Hope you have a fantastic time!

[Chris Kenney]

I did 8 on sunday, after a long run of 12 the week before in preparation for the half. 4 this morning and 3 tomorrow morning, then maybe a shake the jitters 2 on Friday afternoon. I am ready for this race, I think...cant wait to go!

[Pete]

Don't forget to let you rest\taper apply to other things as well. Don't be out on you feet raking leaves or climbing up and down a ladder cleaning out gutters. Don't spend 3 hours on Thursday or Friday walking around the expo. Here is week 17 (of 18) for the marathon from Hal-though I use the Sportsbackers schedule. The idea is the same.
http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Oint2-17.htm

[Dan Wolf]

BTW, feel free to do some easy speedwork today just to remind your legs how to run fast. One of the biggest mistakes that people make on a taper is running slow for 10-14 days. I always plan for a short set of 400m repeats 4 or 5 days before a Half Marathon/10K/5K. Don't do them much faster than your goal HM pace (10K pace at fastest), and don't do more than 4 to 6 of them. Any faster or higher volume will tire you out.

I've read in a few places that you should include 3 speed workouts (either intervals, tempo runs, or even just goal pace runs) in your HM taper, and that has worked for me in the past. Even Higdon (who is a bit conservative IMO) includes speedwork in the last week of his Advanced HM plan.