The Endurazone

  I am picking races to get me to my goal of finishing at least one marathon (or longer) in each of the 50 states. I needed Louisiana and chose the Logjammer. Entry fee was reasonable, it was about a 3.5 hour drive away, course looked not overly difficult, and I have never been to Shreveport before (NOLA a hand full of times and other parts of LA but not Shreveport). Check-in was easy at the Sportspectrum athletic store. The race t-shirt (hoodie) was very nice. I found a nice inexpensive hotel close by. Carbo-loaded at a nice Italian cafe in the middle of an office building nearby as well. Race morning was cool/cold (50 degrees F) and during the race never left the 50’s. Start of the race was through the shopping center and then into nearby neighborhoods. First half or so had a fair amount of rolling hills. No major climbs, but definitely rollers. The 1/2 marathon started with the full marathoners (they split off around mile 11). I was running fairly well – but legs were a little t...

This is a small 5k (my Apple watch showed it at 3.15 miles) that takes place mostly on paved bike trails (with a couple turn arounds on grass and a couple street crossings well staffed by volunteers). It is a fundraiser for a local cross country youth running team called The Bolts.  My legs were still pretty tired from the Fort Worth Marathon about a week before.  Managed a top 5 finish.....but it was a pretty casual event.  My time was 23:06.....so 7:20 minute miles.

  I decided to repeat my run attire that I wore at the San Antonio Alamo Marathon: cowboy hats, rodeo belt & buckle, denim shirt, sunglasses, blue jeans, and Texas flag shoes. I was on a 4:00 hour pace through around 18 – 19 mile, then just faded a bit.....OK, a lot. Oh well, finished in 4:41+. The course had rollers along the river but overall was pretty flat. It was cold – in the 50’s the whole race and the last part was mostly into a cold headwind. Organization was good (no safety pins in the bib bag though….but got them at a table at the start). Finishers’ medal was a huge belt buckle – larger than most if not all of my ultra buckles. Good and fun run.