Difference in recovery between tapered vs. non-tapered meets

Just wondering if any of you have experienced a difference in your recovery between tapered and non-tapered meets. This weekend I swam my first truly non-tapered meet. My times weren't that far off my best times, which was fairly encouraging. However, I did notice that on the second day of the meet I was more fatigued than I normally am on the second day of meets, with other variables being similar. And today I had a particularly crappy practice -- couldn't hit intervals that normally wouldn't be a problem for me, even the day after most meets. Should I be concerned, with Nationals two and a half weeks from now? Or is this to be expected and the result of not tapering for this meet? I think I'm probably obsessing too much. Nats nerves, I guess. :)