Day 71: Cracking a Sub 13 Minute Mile

Today was one of those days where I woke up feeling great.  It’s rare that I have mornings usually I wake up tired and it takes me a few minutes to get going, really about 15 minutes.  I am just not a morning person.  In addition it was one of those weird nights were I woke up several time so I should have been tired. 

I wonder if it is my diet.  Over the last five days I went back on my Paleo Diet and I always feel better skipping grains and beans.  My energy seems to go up and I sleep better (except for last night).  Even after all the exercise I went through. 

I do have a hard time saying I am on a “Paleo Diet” since I don’t consider it so much a diet but a dietary choice.  Take tonight for example; I had BBQ chicken, Backed Sweet Potato, and a Salad.  Does that sound like a diet to you?  Maybe it does.  I had gained a few pounds back and by going back strictly paleo in the past five days I have lost all of them. 

Now for my exercise today I hit the pavement trying to break that thirteen minute a mile mark and did quite well through the first half.  According to Run Keeper I was keeping a 12:27 pace and felt good.  Unfortunately I couldn’t keep that pace up.

I put my head down and tried to power through it but the harder I ran the harder it became to run.  My lungs were not a problem it was my legs that were failing me.  I guess I was asking too much of them to carry my girth at the constant speed I asked them to.  They weren’t ready to repeatedly pound the pavement fast enough to beat my pace. 

My legs failed me.  No matter how hard I pushed them they were not going to give me what I needed.  I needed more speed.  In the end it just wasn’t there. I finished my two mile jog with a 13:04 minute mile.  Maybe tomorrow. 

I feel like the more weight I lose the faster I will be able to go after all that just makes since to me.  Way back in the day I could carry a ten minute pace. 

So, retuning to paleo and cranking up my speed hopefully will give me the benefits and time that I am looking for.

Daily Recap:

Matt: 30 Min at a 13:04 minute pace even though I pushed my legs to the limit. 

Kelly: TBD