Yes, that title is correct! I ran the Louisiana Marathon today in Baton Rouge!
After the Charleston marathon was cancelled, I was getting comfortable with having Boston in April be my next marathon. But then an instagram friend who was in the same situation mentioned that she was looking at the Louisiana Marathon- same weekend (Sunday, instead of Saturday like Charleston). It was easy enough to change our flights from Charleston to Baton Rouge and find a hotel- and of course, register for the marathon!
I’ll share a full marathon recap this week, but here’s my normal weekly recap of training!
Monday: 6 easy treadmill miles before work with strides, 9 min/mile average, 10 min core on Peloton
Tuesday: Workout- outside! Yay! The temperature was still pretty cold in the morning; looking at the forecast, I really should have waited for the lovely afternoon warm-up, but my friends were meeting and Christie was up for doing my workout with me, so 6 degrees instead of 30 was what had to happen!

The trails were so-so, but good enough to at least try a workout. 3 miles easy, 3×1 mile at marathon effort, 1 mile easy cool-down. 7.7 miles total, 8:40 min/mile average. 20 min of core + 10 min upper body on Peloton
Wednesday: 6 easy miles, 9:20 min/mile average with Christie before work. I wore my Houston Marathon jacket in honor of the upcoming Houston marathon this weekend. I ran Houston in 2019, my first marathon back after breaking my tibia/fibula in 2018. I was so happy to be running a marathon again- it was a great comeback race! Read that recap HERE.
20 min core on Peloton.

Thursday: Solo 5 miles, outside (yay for a brief warm-up in Minneapolis!), 9 min/mile average, 10 min core on Peloton
Friday: Rest day from running! We had a bit of a long day of travel to get from Minneapolis to Baton Rouge, i.e. MSP to ATL with a longish layover, then ATL to Baton Rouge. Lots of walking through airports and a bit of walking when we arrived in Baton Rouge, but otherwise rest, though I did do 15 min of core to keep up with the Emma Lovewell “Crush Your Core” challenge on Peloton. I don’t know if I totally love the classes, but I do like the consistency and the motivation to ensure I do at least 10 min of core EVERY day. I hope it makes a difference!
We walked around a little bit near the hotel to find a market for some Gatorades and water. There was a cool sculpture by the Mississippi River that changed colors every few seconds:

I’m also a sucker for a local mural of course.

Saturday: 4 mile shake out run along the Mississippi River with some strides, 8:30 min/mile average. 10 min core on Peloton.
It was 60 degrees and quite humid for the shakeout, but it started to rain shortly thereafter and the temperatures dropped too (whew!)
Post-shakeout & shower, we grabbed breakfast at the Starbucks in our hotel and walked over to the Raising Cane’s River Center where the expo was held to pick up our race bibs.
The expo was small but actually decent; they had a good mix of Louisiana Marathon gear and several other vendors. Bigger than Route 66 or Fargo’s expos (my two most recent marathons.)
We walked to the starting line from the hotel to see how much time we’d need the next day; less than 10 minutes!
The finish line and “party” were on the capitol grounds, which were very lush and pretty!
Sunday: Race day! The marathon started at 7 am; the temperature was 32 degrees with a “feels like” of 20 degrees due to the high winds. (Constant wind at 15 mph with gusts up to 40 mph!)
I mean, that’s shorts and a tank top for a Minnesotan. Ha!
Dustin actually ran it with me, which usually helps me to a PR, but unfortunately not today. I did alright for the first 20 miles, but then the wind wore me down in the final 10k, so no PR today. But it was marathon 38, state 27! (Marathon #40 for Dustin!)

Summary: 55 miles of running including a 26.2 mile tour of Baton Rouge, Louisiana!
Minimal strength training, but consistent core on the Peloton app.
I’m linking up as always with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner as part of their Weekly Rundown. Check it out!
Way to add another state–and completely unplanned! I love how you did this. You had a great finish time, all things considered, right? Were you stressed about running a race you didn’t really know much about? It’s great that Dustin ran with you. I’m sure that kept the nerves down. Congrats!
Yes I was still happy with the race! It’s fun to run with Dustin, it had been a long time since we did one together. We did read reviews on marathonguide.com findmymarathon.com and other blogs before making the decision to do it. I didn’t want it to be a complete disaster since it still cost time and money to get there! But overall it was a pretty nice marathon- I liked it more than I think I would have liked Rock n Roll New Orleans. I’ve been to New Orleans but I doubt I would have otherwise gone to Baton… Read more »
Congrats on finding your next marathon so quickly! How nice to be able to change all the travel plans & be so close to the start at the last minute, too. Nice!
I’ve run a few insanely windy halfs, so I can only imagine how tiring that is after double the distance. Fingers crossed that you have great weather for Boston. Congrats again, PR or not, finishing a marathon is always a big win.
Thank you Judy! Yes the wind was challenging but you can’t control those things!
Congrats on Louisiana! I think that’s a very impressive finish considering the temps and the wind. Gosh, you look cold, though! Anxious to hear more details of the race!
Haha it was colder than I thought it would feel with that wind!
Wow, that is cool! How exciting! I can’t wait to hear the race recap. We drove past Baton Rouge on our way to Texas in August but couldn’t stop, so I’ve never seen the city. It looks nice! I love that photo of the sculpture.
Congratulations on state #27!!!
Thank you Jenny! Baton Rouge was a neat destination- not sure if we ever would have gone there otherwise and now we saw 26.2 miles of it!
wow way to pivot and find another race so fast. Looking forward to reading your race recap this week. Congratulations!
Thank you Deb!
we twin on the broken tibia/fibula – do you have screws and plates?
Anyway congrats on adding another marathon to your collection. This sometimes just work out.
I sure do- a plate and 12 screws holding it all together. The bionic leg
a plate and 6 screws on the left side and 2 long screws on the right side (it’s my left ankle) – We are truly bionic lol
Congratulations on a surprise marathon! Way to go. You look a little cold in that last photo, but after 26.2 in the wind, that is gonna happen. That green grass at the capitol looks a little surreal, though!
Thanks Eric! Yeah, a bit of a surprise as I didn’t share it on social media but it all happened pretty quickly!
The Capitol grounds were very nice!
Wow! I’m so impressed you switched to another marathon so quickly. I guess you didn’t have time to debate the decision. I heard the wind was brutal. Way to power through!
Very windy in Baton Rouge! Did you have a friend run it?
Oh wow, go you!! Congrats! That’s great you were able to get into another race. And the hotel was only 10mins away from the start? How perfect! I have to laugh about the race gear temps. For sure that is a Minnesota thing – I think I would have to have had some capris at least. Are those the Endorphin Pros? You are liking them?
I was glad to have the arms sleeves, I didn’t warm up as much as I thought I would!
Yep- I wear the Endorphin Pros for races but this time they felt really thin- like my feet were hitting the pavement really hard? It could have also been that all the roads are concrete which was different for me.
Wow, congrats on another marathon! It’s great that Dustin ran with you! Looking forward to reading your recap.
Thank you so much Michelle!
I love that you were able to pivot so quickly and find another race! Congratulations! I can’t believe how chilly it was there. Did you freeze? Or was it a “humid” 28? Haha!
It warmed up to 40 but that wind kept me very chilled- it took awhile to dethaw post race!
6/-8. wow just wow.
So glad you were able to find a race that worked with your training cycle. Love the Mississippi River sunset too
For murals, you need to put Bermuda on your list if you and Dustin haven’t been. Some amazing murals around the island.
Amazing! I am so glad you were able to roll your training into another marathon. And I imagine it was downright hot for you!
Great job, and I’m s glad Dustin could run with you! I’m sure that was a nice help!
Well luck at you with the surprise marathon – awesome job Jessie! I’m so glad that you were still able to utilize all of your training even though the Charleston Marathon was canceled.
Brilliant – I know I’m late to the party as I got behind with my blog reading this week but so glad you got a marathon in after all! Well done!