Craig, I share the guideline of a day off 2 days before a race, and you’ll see that in all our triathlon plans.
But, that belief is not universal, and other coaches think it is too much of a taper. Matt wrote the marathon plans and feels that is an unnecessary omission based on his time training with and coaching pro runners.
But, remember, we write our plans for a “typical” runner. For some runners, that level of taper is the right approach.
David