Half Marathon Pre-Race Fuel

Since this blog is also supposed to be about running, I guess it's about time that I have a running related post. In addition to being one of the greatest holidays of the year, Saturday was also the DC Half Marathon. I am a big fan of this race. Because DC is so small, the half literally takes you around the whole city. I did this race for the first time last year and loved it so much that when Alicia expressed an interest in doing it this year I was thrilled. This year, the race fell on St. Patty's Day, allowing us to not only run and enjoy all the fun incorporations of green in the ensembles of our fellow runners, but to also spend the rest of the day celebrating with a little less guilt.


One of my favorite parts of running long distances used to be the pre-race pasta dinner. I'm always encountering people that think vegetarians spend their days downing pasta. Perhaps surprisingly to many, I probably eat less pasta since becoming a vegetarian than I did before. I used to love the grain, but perhaps as a result of consuming it too frequently during my ill-experienced cooking years in college, I find more often than not that I have to really mentally psych myself up to get in the mood for a pasta dinner. (This is admittedly another of my weird food tendencies) 


To help get me excited for my pre-race meal, I decided a new pasta recipe was in order. Not wanting to spend too much time cooking the night before the race, I was thrilled when I discovered a 10 minute sauce recipe while browsing the pasta aisle at market. I'm not a huge sauce person and this allowed me to combine the needed sauce to prevent the meal from being too dry with my love for chunky tomatoes. The results did not disappoint and I was carbed up and ready to go for race day. 

Pasta with 10 Minute Sauce


Ingredients

• 1 box, whole wheat pasta (I usually just go with whatever looks good to me on a given day)
• 2 14.5oz cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 cup onion, diced 
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 4 tbsp olive oil

*I also tossed in some fresh broccoli to add some extra nutrients and color

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until tender (about 5 minutes)
3. Stir in tomatoes, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste
4. Drain pasta, pour sauce over pasta and serve. Enjoy!

Alicia and I pre-race

Finished! Ready to start celebrating

A big part of why I run...that and the post-race pancakes I had prior to this