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Of Half-Marathons & Cookies

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.

Half-Marathon Shirt
Sun 26 Jun ~ 3 Sun 26 Jun ~ 1

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.

176/365 Almond-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies #mostly365

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.

Flour/Oats/Almond/Coconut
Almond Coconut Cookies On Baking Sheet

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.

Almond Coconut Cookies Freshly Baked

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