Taper Time, well kind of

So in to the home straight now at last. I know there's often a lot of debate about how long the marathon taper should be, with 2 to 3 weeks often considered the optimum duration. As my training had been disrupted I feel that my situation is slightly different. Traditionally one should begin the taper after coming off the hardest training in terms of intensity and mileage & while I got some good quality workouts in, my weekly mileage had been hit or miss. Since Ballycotton (i.e. the recovery week of 57 miles) I had mileage of 77, 67, 23, 41, 57, 77. While I'm hopeful the lack of mileage won't come against me Sunday week, it means at the moment I feel quite fresh, whereas I should be on my hands & knees by this stage.
With this in mind even though I had always planned on doing my last 20 miler 2 weeks out I postponed it by a day as there was no way I was doing it the day after the 10K race. It turned out to be my hardest long run so far, not because of the intensity - it was my slowest one and on dead flat roads, as I've moved to Palma for the last few days. The hangover from the Easter celebrations meant it was mentally tough to keep going. Maybe subconsciously having the few beers was a good idea as I hadn't really suffered mentally on any of the long runs so far, so I needed a bit of "wanting to throw in the towel and just keep the head down". Even after 19 miles I wanted to call it quits but I'm glad I stuck it out. The pace was slow, but that's perfect as it was all about getting time on my feet. I think anyone that knows me well can well understand how I could fully integrate a night on the lash as an essential component of my training plan!
Did a 30 minute recovery run tuesday morning & felt a little stiff. Did another hour in the PM and felt a bit better but still not fully recovered.
Got up this morning with an easy hour in mind but it felt anything but easy. The old familiar big race coming up feeling of lethargy is starting to creep in but I kept the head down in the knowledge I could just relax for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow is 10 days out which means last session and then the taper proper can begin.
Monday: 20 miles @6.58 HR141
Tuesday:AM 4miles @ 7.47
PM 8miles @7.02 HR132
Wednesday: 8miles @ 7.23 HR125