Going long-weekly update

I had a good week the week of April 13-19. My training is mostly unstructured right now. I seem to decide what I am going to do as I head out the door. A lot of the decisions hang on what the weather is doing. It has been 70 degrees one day and rain and 30's the next. This morning, Monday, April 20, it was snowing as I left for work. Not enough to stick around, but snowing none the less.
I took a couple of days off at the beginning of last week to do some yard work and catch up on chores around the house. By Wednesday I was itching to get out and hit the roads. I filled a couple of bottles and grabbed a couple of gels and off I went. I had a general idea of what I wanted to accomplish and where I wanted to go. I wanted to get in a very easy and relaxed long run. Just enjoy a great day and run. It felt good to put on some serious-for me anyway-miles. By the time I was done I had put in a little over 17 miles. I was tired and a little achy, but not bad at all.
I took it easy the next couple of days. I did an easy run with my wife, Tammy. Just to keep the legs loose. The next day we did an easy bike ride.
By Saturday I was ready to put in some miles again. I had always wanted to try the run/walk method on a long run and this seemed a good day to try it. I headed out to the Tomorrow River Trail. This is a rail trail that runs between some of the little towns here in central Wisconsin. I headed out from Scandanavia towards Amherst. I ran for 4 minutes and walked for 35 seconds. According to the Galloway schedule, if I ran fast enough I could use this for a 3:30:00 marathon. For my first attempt it went fairly well. The run segments weren't quite fast enough. I averaged just over 8:10/mile. The run ended up being over 14 miles and again I felt tired, but good at the end. The walks seemed to help but the overall average pace was just so-so. I think I'll try this again and measure it against a steady long run of the same distance.
The next day it ended up being rainy and cold but I wanted to get out and do an easy, short run. I put in around 6 miles and was frozen and wet by the end. Of course it waited to rain seriously until I was out a few miles. I guess the miserable weather workouts make me stronger, right?
Not it is back to work. After being laid off for a week and a half it is time to put the nose to the grindstone. Then a week of vacation. Almost like a part time job.
Well, time to wrap this up. More soon. Gotta run..........