Snowball Series #1 5K Forest Park

 

Really good pace this morning.  It was colder than I thought it would be & my back has been bothering me, so I was happy with the result.

Frostbite series #2, 2 miles

 Ran with Joe this morning.  He definitely pulled me along!!!!  Pretty good pace for me and the weather was perfect for running.  I'm in 3rd out of 15 place in the series standings.

Frostbite Series #1, 3K

 

It was absolutely pouring this morning.  Why did I do it???  So I had the option to bow out of a later one is the weather is really bad!!!!  MUCH slower than last year though.

Hot Chocolate Run 2024

 Great run today and great time.  Weather was perfect.  I was 3rd of 7 in my group, so a good showing overall.  I also shaved almost 2 minutes off my time from 2 years ago! I'm very happy

St. Louis Half Marathon with Joe Wheeler

 

Joe asked me to do this at the last minute.  This is the first time I've done that and I am so glad I decided to say yes!!  We did a pretty good job, a little bit faster than the Cowbell.  Of course, we started off at an 11:30 pace and then got slower towards the end.  We walked quite a bit that last couple of miles.  Still we really enjoyed it and that's all that matters

MO Cowbell Half Marathon with Joe Wheeler

This was the first long run I had done with someone else, and it made it way more enjoyable.  We made sure that we didn't overextend ourselves and we did really well.  It was around 70-75F and very sunny, so not my ideal running conditions and we had an interesting hill at the end where the sun was blazing in our eyes-the most challenging part.  This is about my usual half marathon pace, so I'm happy with it.  Best of all, I feel fine the next day....

Quinoa bowl with green tahini sauce

 Ingredients

750g sweet potato, cut into 1cm thick half moons

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

½ brown onion, sliced into 1–2cm wide slivers

¾ cup quinoa, rinsed

1½ cup chicken or vegetable broth, see tips above

1 x 400g can black beans, drained and rinsed

A squeeze of lemon juice

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, toasted, see tips above for substitutions

For the green tahini sauce

35g (a generous handful) flat leaf parsley leaves

1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon (25g) hulled tahini

¼ teaspoon garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon ginger, minced

2 teaspoons runny honey

A tiny pinch of fine sea salt

Method

Roast sweet potato in air fryer

Over low heat, warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small to medium-sized heavy-based saucepan for which you have a lid. Add the onion and a small pinch of salt and stir. Cook the onion for around 10 minutes — slow and steady over low heat — until soft and sticky. Then add the quinoa and broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer with the lid slightly ajar. Allow the quinoa to cook for around 15 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the centre of the quinoa grain/seed is translucent. Remove from the heat, place the lid on the pot and leave for 10 minutes.

Place the black beans in a mixing bowl and add a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of salt. Stir then taste, and adjust seasoning as desired.

To prepare the green sauce place the parsley, oil and lemon juice in a mini food processor and blitz until the parsley is finely chopped. Add the remaining ingredients and blitz again until smooth. Taste and adjust the flavour as you wish — more lemon, more salt, etc. 

To serve, place a spoonful of quinoa in a bowl, followed by a spoonful of beans and roast sweet potato. Drizzle the sauce over the top and scatter some toasted seeds. Finish with an extra drizzle of olive oil if desired.