Hi everyone,
Yesterday I did my first marathon. Because of a little injury I did not run at all during the last two weeks before the race. I told my self that I would rather be on the starting line healthy but with less fitness than the other way round around (which is true, and I don't regret it!). However, everyone I asked told me to (I also saw that on forums) not worry about not running in the last 2 weeks, that training is done, that I won't lose fitness, or even that I would actually feel fresher and it will be better, etc.
But my legs actually felt the opposite of fresh. They were sluggish and heavy since the very beginning. I started slower than my goal pace but still knew very soon that I would not be able to keep up, and finally exploded in the last kms, ending nowhere near my goal time.
I try to find why it has not worked, because I felt like flying during my hard weeks, a few weeks ago. I assume going straight from 4 runs a week to zero can lead to such counter-performances and that I have been told BS, but I wanted to have your thoughts about that, and on the importance of a proper tapering.