Spicy sausage spaghetti

I was supposed to run today but I couldn't be bothered.

I think I'm still feeling a little lost post marathon des sables. (This does not bode well for the beginnings of half marathon training.)

So to combat any more blue feelings I thought I'd at least eat some healthy runner's food, even if I didn't make it out the door (again).

This is one of my favourite can't-be-bothered meals, when I still want something filling and good for me.

It's high energy (probably better if I had actually gone for a run), the tomatoes have cancer fighting anti-oxidants in them (from lycopene apparently), vitamin K (basil) and vitamins A, B, C and E (chillies). Plus veggie sausages are lower in fat and higher in protein that normal sausages. Win!

Ta da!


400g dried spaghetti - the long stuff is best (more to wind around your fork)
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Handful of sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 Linda McCartney sausages
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped - I keep the seeds in for extra kick
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Bunch of fresh basil, roughly chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Parmesan (if flash with cash) or cheddar (if not)




Heat the oven to gas 6/200 degrees. Cook the sausages for 18 minutes.

Then bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook 9-11 minutes.

Meanwhile heat some olive oil in pan. Add chopped garlic and chilli. After a couple of minutes when the garlic has started to brown (but not burn), add the chopped tomatoes, basil and sun dried tomatoes with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Heat on high for a couple of minutes with a splash of balsamic vinegar, then bring back to a simmer until the rest of the food is ready.

Once the sausages are done, chop them up and add to the sauce.

Mix the spaghetti through the sauce.

Sprinkle with extra basil and cheese.

Serve with a big green salad and an even bigger glass of red wine.

Increasing the miles, increasing the food :-)

So we're aiming to do a 50 miler soon (though I'm still a little hesitant about this!) so figured that if I'm at 10 miles now, I need to increase pretty rapidly to make 50 miles by first week of November. Decided a little hazardously to run for 3 hours this weekend non stop to test out the old leggies on the road. Here's the route (battersea and back)...


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Verdict? As suspected - hard. So now a little bit worried about the whole race. Though also I think this is quite good - a little like a reality check. It's supposed to be hard - that's the point. If it wasn't, everyone would do it, and it wouldn't be seen as a pretty damn cool thing to try. On the plus I didn't feel too bad the day after - I could have run again if I really had to.

I think I may tinker with the training plan slightly and focus more on longer back to backs but not running every day. Hoping this will also keep my interest up too.

Anyway, other than that I also remembered how absolutely lovely you feel afterwards and also how much food you can eat!

I ploughed through:-

1) Porridge with apricots
2) Big bowl of pasta with peas and salmon
3) Alpen crunchy bar
4) Two slices of toast with jam
5) Takeaway curry - onion bahji, veg dopiaza, rice, naan, poppadom, dahl, saag paneer, beer, more beer, bit more beer

I've read in articles that you burn 100 calories for every mile you run. I reckon it may be slightly less than this, so say it's 75 calories and you run 10 miles that's 750 extra calories of food you can eat!

What could 750 calories get you?

2 1/2 Gu chocolate souffles

25 carrots

4 1/2 cans of tomato soup

Stay tuned for slightly more appropriate recipes for runners..