fresh & fit {15-minute} summer pasta.

Hey hey!! How’s summer life treatin’ y’all?

I can’t complain…

 

Tonight, after my workout at the WREC, I made a simple summer pasta in 15 minutes or less.

What you’ll need:

local LundberG organic brown rice penne

organic extra virgin olive oil

Garlic

organic cherry tomatoes

ear of fresh corn

organic fresh basil

fresh mozzarella cheese

sea salt + fresh black pepper

In a pot of boiling water, cook pasta until al dente – drain. Meanwhile, in a small sauté pan, sauté minced garlic cloves in ~1 T olive oil. Add sliced cherry tomatoes and corn cut from the cob. Cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add bite-sized mozzarella pieces and chiffonade of basil to hot pasta – stir until cheese begins to melt. Add corn + tomato mixture. Season with S + P.

Note: Making good pasta isn’t rocket science. Add as much or as little of each ingredient as you wish.

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And because it is Running Tuesday, July 19th, how about a Q&A with 19 running-related questions…

1. What is your favorite type of cross training? Cycling!

2. What is your favorite song to run to? 

Today I was rockin’ out to:

• Dirty Dancer
• Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band = summer love!
• Moves Like Jagger
• Shooting Star
• Super Bass

3. What brand of shoes do you wear? Asics.

  

4. Do you wear a hat when you run? Haha, why yes I do!

5. What temperature is your favorite for running? Cool – 60F would be ideal. I don’t mind bundling up in colder weather or the rain, but I am not seasoned to run in the heat. 

6. Do you have any big races coming up? Nope. I just ran my 5th half a couple of days ago, but I’m already planning for #6.

7. What is your favorite distance? 

8. Are you an morning, noon or evening runner? I’ve ran races that start at 7:00am and I’ve ran races that start at 7:00pm. I enjoy getting up early on the weekend and going for a long run, but I also enjoy a fast, sweaty run after a long day at school. I’ll run around the clock!

9. Do you run solo or with a buddy? I enjoy both. A lot of my closest friends are runners and I love the time we spend together running. However, I’m also a fan of pluggin’ in my ‘pod and cranking  out a run on my own agenda.

10. What is your favorite post run snack? Depending on the time of day, it could be a stack of Healthy Pancakes for a Hungry Runner or plate of light lemon and zucchini pasta. I don’t snack too often after running… except for a few pieces of dried mango for some instant sugar every now and again.

11. What is your favorite race? I have to say crossing the finish line of my 1st half-marathon hand-in-hand with my BFF was pretty awesome; I also l.o.v.e.d running the NWM in San Francisco with 20,000 others. 

12. Do you use GU for fuel or something different? If so, what? No, I’m all about the real food. I’ll pop a Chocolate Espresso Energy Bite before a workout, or if I’m going long, then whole grain toast with PB and banana (carb, protein and fat).

13. Do you wear a Garmin? If not, how do you track your runs? No, I don’t (shocking!). I would looove a Nike+ SportWatch GPS, but I use Google maps and DailyMile for now.

14. What is your least favorite race? I can’t think of race I didn’t enjoy.

15. What race is your favorite medal from? Half #3

16. Who is your running idol? Dean Karnazes is super-human.

17. How long have you been a runner? I started running in middle school, non-competitively. You can find my running history here.

18. Do you run with your engagement/wedding ring on? If I was engaged/married, I would.

19. What’s your favorite workout? Long runs? Repeats? Tempo? I like to think of myself as an endurance athlete, but I have a new appreciation for repeats and tempo runs. I haven’t met many workouts that I don’t like :)

Take care, friends.

HP

* * *

Running Tuesday Workout, July 19:

• 1/4 mi. jog
• 16-minute TM run – 0.5 incline

14 min. @ 7.5mph // 1 min. @ 8.5mph // 1 min. @ 9.0mph

• 14-minute TM walk – 1.5 incline @ 4.5mph
• 10-minute StairMaster @ 100 steps/minute
• 20 minutes strength training