Louisiana – Louisiana Marathon

Next up, the Louisiana Marathon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My second full marathon of the 50 state challenge. Whole family went out for this one since the kids had a three day weekend and none of us had ever been to Louisiana.

We stayed in Baton Rouge and had a great view of the Mississippi from our room.

After checking out the expo and picking up our bibs, we headed down to New Orleans. What a fantastic city. We rode the hop on, hop off bus to get around town and learn a little about the city. Lunch was at a great vegan restaurant in the garden district. We did some walking and window shopping in the Garden District before hopping back on the bus to explore the French Quarter and night (and of course, get some dinner).

Sunday morning, Chris and I were up nice and early. Chris was running the half and I was running the full. Although I had high hopes for this race based on several good months of training, the race had sent out a warning to take it slow due to the incredibly high humidity. I wish I had paid a little more attention to that email. I started out strong – was feeling good until about the 1/2 way mark when I started to feel drained. I tried to convince myself it would pass, but unfortunately things just got worse. In retrospect, I think I probably got dehydrated, but by mile 18 I was having trouble even walking. I had to sit down on three different occasions because I was so dizzy I thought I was going to fall over. Somehow, I made it to the finish line. Although, time-wise, this was by far my worst marathon to date, I think I had to put more grit and effort into finishing this race than any other I’ve done.

But, enough about my crappy race. The course was gorgeous. Passed through LSU campus and the neighborhoods surrounding it. While we were still running with the 1/2 marathoners, we ran around a gorgeous lake with so many interesting birds to watch. Unlike other marathons I’ve done, the course was beautiful throughout – no running along highways or past paint factories. So, for my long walk, I had plenty to look at. The course was quite flat (and I imagine fast if you weren’t nearly falling over from dehydration) and the volunteers and spectators were wonderful. The best part was the family was waiting for me right around mile 26. Nate joined me for the last 0.2 miles – definitely the highlight of the race!