Remember when I said I wanted to run a half-marathon this June? Well, I did this past weekend.
I woke up early last Sunday, went up to UBC and run all the way back with thousands of others in the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon.
It was a good run, I wasn’t expecting that and yet it was the first time I’d really felt good about running in a long time.
It reminded me of when I used to run the Capital Crescent Trail over a decade ago, running was fun back then.
I barely trained for this run, I started out with good intentions however in the end I ran about five times over four months and never ran beyond 7kms.
I wish I had trained, because although this was the most fun I’ve had running in a while, it didn’t feel whole, you get so much more from training – plus I could have done better.
I don’t know how I get back to that, but I want to enjoy running again.

For the past couple of days I’ve been thinking about… maybe aiming for a marathon next year.
Yes, I want to run a marathon!
I can’t even begin to fathom how I’d go about training for that, but one thing I know for sure is that, when I write about doing something on this blog, I usually end up doing it.
For those of you running types out there, here’s how I’ve fared in the three half-marathons I’ve ran over the past five years.
Year —- Time —— Pace(KM)
2007 — 2:06:12 —- 5:59
2008 — 2:20:39 —- 6:40
2011 — 2:18:49 —- 6:35

I’d like to be better, maybe finish under 2:00 hrs; and I won’t get there by not training.
I’m really glad I did this run; it’s awoken a passion (for running) I haven’t felt in a long time and that’s a good thing.

I made these awesome post-workout cookies on Saturday before the race.
I knew I was going to get pretty ravenous after the race, the last time I binged on bagels and bananas, this time I wanted to make something special.
I’ve been meaning to make these cookies for a while now, it includes all my favourite things; coconuts, almonds, oats and bananas.
This is perhaps my best cookie yet, it’s chewy and soft, and the flavours are just oh so wonderful.
The recipe is adapted from this recipe, which doesn’t have banana in it, but I decided to throw in my sad browning banana and that’s what makes the perfect post-workout cookies.
I had a couple of cookies after my big run, and then more throughout the day – I couldn’t help it, they’re sooo good!
I’ll definitely be making these again soon.

Oatmeal Coconut & Almond Cookies (Adapted from Eat Good 4 Life)
INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 medium banana
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3-4 tablespoons almond milk (or soy or coconut or cow’s or whatevs…)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour (regular whole wheat flour works too)
• 1 scant teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Mash banana with a fork and combine in a mixing bowl with olive oil, honey, vanilla milk and sugar, and mix well.
4. Add the dry ingredients (that’s the remaining ingredients) and mix well with a spatula.
5. Make sure the dough sticks together, depending on the kind of flour you use; you may need to add a few tablespoons of milk or flour (until cookie dough consistency is reached)
6. Place spoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart and flatten slightly with a fork (mine didn’t spread much during baking)
7. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until they begin to brown around the edges.
8. Cool cookies in cookie sheets for about 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I want to run a half marathon this June.
Yes, I go through this every year, and I’ve failed miserable these last two years.
I want to say this year would be different yet I don’t know that for sure, but I’m going to try.

I learned the hard way that the key to running a safe and successful race is training.
I started a training schedule this week; I’m starting off slow…
On Monday I went for a brisk five-kilometre walk.
On Tuesday, I turned up the music and danced, for an hour.

I ran a slow and steady five kilometres last night towards Coal Harbour and back.
Tonight I skipped (as in the skipping rope), and tomorrow I’ll try some hot yoga or floor exercises.
I plan on doing a longer ten kilometres on Sunday.

I remember the immense pride I felt from running my first half-marathon, and the disappointment of the second year because I didn’t train.
I really want it to be different this time, I want to be prepared, ready and confident.
Here’s to trying!

I went for a run this weekend.
A long and familiar eight-mile dash along the seawall
I’m trying to ease back slowly into a regular running schedule.
I ran for the first time in months two weekends ago, and I could barely walk the next day.
There’s a term for this affliction; Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness – DOMS for short.
This was a good run and I wasn’t sore the next day, my goal is to do one short run this week.

Weather permitting, I’d like to keep up the regular weekend runs; I’d forgotten how much I enjoy running in the mornings on weekends.
I’m using the Nike+ GPS app on the iPhone to track my runs; it’s also a coach and motivator of sorts.
I prefer it to my Garmin Forerunner and the mapping seems as accurate as the forerunner.
It’s easy to use and has a nice interface; it’s a very well made app with some very nice features.

Along with calculating distance, pace and the route, it has a voice feedback feature with updates as you run.
It syncs automatically and seamlessly with my Nikeplus.com account.
You can also create a list of songs you like to run to, and you get motivational messages from other athletes when you set personal records.
But there’s more… you can share your run on Facebook and Twitter.
The Cheer Me On feature, I haven’t yet used this yet, it let’s your friends on Facebook send you live cheers, comments and Likes.

You probably already know that the seawall is my favourite running route.
Well, it’s also due to a little laziness on my part since it’s practically my backyard; but there’s no denying that it’s lovely and inspiring.
I’m actually looking forward to trying out other exciting routes, I just have to wake up a little early for those.

We had the perfect fall weekend; it was sunny, cool and beautiful – perfect for a run.

And here are some old posts on my weird relationship with running…

I went for a run today!
I think I’d mentioned before that I hadn’t ran since October of 2009,
I checked my running stats and it looks like it’s been more than a year; that run in October was a fluke.
It was one of those acts of desperation that was never to be repeated.

Mon 7 Jun 10 – Evening Run

I started out this evening a little guarded, I felt strange, putting one foot in front of the other, trying to pick up the pace.
It was almost as if I was embarking on a strange ritual.

In the beginning all I could think of was how much I wanted to stop, turn around and go back home.
I felt extremely tired, out of shape and couldn’t think through my laboured breathing.
‘I can’t believe I use to do this nearly every day, and at some point deluded myself into thinking that I actually enjoyed it’
I thought to myself.
I managed to keep going, dragging and toiling through it, it felt like I’d been at it for hours, but it had been just a few minutes.
After a while, I must have gotten used to the torturous feeling because I decided it wasn’t that bad, that maybe I could do this after all.

There’s something about running that I’d missed… that feeling of being alone… with my thoughts.
I’m a loner, and running gives me that loneliness I crave without the weirdness of the feeling of wanting to be alone.
I didn’t have any music or podcasts, it was just me breathing.
By mid-run, I’d settled into a comfortable pace, I didn’t mind that I was moving or the exertion.
There was a melodic rhythm to my pace.
It felt nice, in a way exercises could only feel.
Two and the half miles in, I decided to turn back, the run back was much easier and relaxed.
I was settled, almost back into the swing of things, albeit very slowly.

Outfit Details – Jacket – Aritzia (Kit for Cloth), Striped Shirt – Banana Republic, Pants – Baia (The Bay), Shoes – Nine West

I think a lot when I’m running; I’d sort of forgotten about that, I decided not to let tomorrow into my thoughts.
I’m taking this one day at a time, I ran five miles today and that’s all that matters.
Maybe I’ll run another five miles tomorrow, maybe I’ll run seven miles, and maybe it’ll rain tomorrow.

Oh these old glasses…
These were the first prescription glasses I wore.
The prescriptions may have changed a few times but these frames were my very first.
I got them about eleven years ago, and as I recall they were quite expensive.
They were probably the most expensive thing I purchased with my own money then – and it made me miss my dad for a second.

I’m one of those people who found out I needed corrective lenses by accident; I always thought I had 20/20 vision.
I went in for a routine exam and was shocked to discover I couldn’t see that well after all.
Things seemed so much clearer after I got my glasses, and I mean that figuratively too.

Suddenly, buildings, signs, landscapes, people all seemed clearer, crisper –
the scary part was these things looked fine to me back when I didn’t know I had poor eyesight.
The guy didn’t look anything like the guy I thought I was in love with, it really blew my mind and things were never the same again.
I recently read a story about the child who gets glasses for the first time; sees a tree and goes“So that’s what they look like”

Outfit Details: Grey Dress – Old Navy (I’ve had it since 2006), Tights – Hue, Rain boots – Benetton, Necklace – My grandma, Eyeglasses – Donna Karan

In other unrelated news, I’m debating running a half-marathon in June.
I seem to go through this every year…
I went to Eat! Vancouver and EPIC Expo over the weekend.
Can I just say re: Eat! Vancouver that the new convention centre is probably not the right location for this type of event.

The folks from Run to End Poverty were at EPIC, which got me thinking that maybe, just maybe… I could run the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon

Maybe if I took the next few weeks to train.
I’m giving myself until tomorrow to decide, it’ll be tough, training wouldn’t be easy; I haven’t ran (properly) since last October.
It’ll be a challenge, and maybe that’s just the challenge I need to start getting fit again.
We’ll see.