The Color Run Rochester 2014

I love a good 5k but have never opted for the wacky color runs I keep seeing cool instagram photos of. Well, our health group is so fantastic that a few of us decided to join together and do the official Color Run Rochester together to kick off the summer season. We did this full on with a Spaghetti Dinner the night before. so easy! Threw diced tomato, garlic, basil, white onion and wheat pasta in a pot with water, salt free seasoning and coconut oil and voila! The official recipe is below but I made a few adjustments. The end results are yummy and we decked out our Spaghetti Dinner with other delights like power bites, fruits, veggies and a watermelon cake at the end. SO GOOD. Kelly, Aimee, Tricia and I prepped for the race by putting our tattoos on and getting psyched for the EARLY morning we would embark on to get to the city by 715am - yikes!

ONE POT WONDER TOMATO BASIL PASTA

Serves 4 to 6 as an entree

12 ounces linguine pasta
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid ( I used zesty red pepper flavor style)
1 medium sweet onion, cut in 1/4 inch julienne strips (use an onion such as Vidalia or Walla Walla)
4 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (use regular broth and NOT low sodium)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch (about 10 to 12 leaves) basil, diced
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add basil leaves and stir pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot evenly throughout the pasta as you are serving. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

Simply remove the rind of the watermelon, pat dry and place cool whip around the cake shaped watermelon. Sprinkle with almonds and top with blueberries and raspberries.

Our Fabulous Team of Ladies - Aimee, Kelly, Megan, me, Rebecca and Tricia - WOOT WOOT! It's been a joy to have been running a health group for the past year but to see 3 of our members do their first 5k over the past year has been wild. We've all worked really hard for ourselves and in support of one another and this race exemplified this. I feel like I would not have pushed myself as hard without the other ladies. We somehow paired off throughout the race and the two in front of me pushed me to move faster while the two behind me motivated me not to stop. What an amazing experience! 

QUICK RANT

The only negative? - Those smart phone people! Even though this race wasn't timed, our team really wanted to push through this without stopping and it was unbelievable the amount of people who stand in line to get doused with color, only to come out and snap pictures on the side while all of us are actually trying to run through. It was already bothersome enough having to stop and walk around people especially when they could have followed directions and stayed to one side but it was worse realizing the backup was seeing the walkers come to a full stop to snap pics - WHY!

I can't thank these ladies enough for enjoying this day with me, into the bbq at our house thank night! Thanks friends!