Half marathon tapering.... with an injury!

sophzr

Hi guys,
I am supposed to be running a half marathon next Sunday and I did my last long run yesterday with plans of tapering my training off this week. Unfortunately, last night I developed horrible lower back pain. I've been putting on the deep heat and taking iboprofen and last night I lay with a hot water bottle against the small of my back but today I feel really stiff... no idea what I've done!

I've done this before and got over it pretty fast, like within a week, but my question is - is it better to completely stay off the training this week aside from some gentle walking, or is it better to keep moving? Has anyone ever had a week off exercise completely before running a half marathon??

If any of you runners out there have any advice, I'd appreciate it. I'm fairly new to running and this is only my second ever half marathon (first one was only about 6 weeks ago) thanks!