I just felt like running

What better way to enjoy my pain of the day than an entirely mental journal of the morning's events that I have transcribed from my couch? Before we get to that, though, here's a few things to catch you up if you didn't know. Today I took part in a relay marathon on a six-member team made up of people from the newspaper. We were all in decent enough shape, but not the peak of physical fitness either. Most of us would have been happy just to finish our legs in a respectable enough time. Me? I was just hoping to keep my miles under 10 minutes on average, and I would have been thrilled to finish in less than 40 minutes. I got the "privilege" of running the first leg, which started at 7 a.m. but would require an even earlier wake-up call. It's also the only leg that's entirely on the sand of the beach. I had heard that there were some portions of the beach that the sand remained packed down pretty well, so I hoped that wouldn't be too much of a factor. My leg consisted of running about 2.2 miles south down the beach to a turnaround and then back to the original starting line where I would hand off to a teammate who would continue running north (and yes, it is a little disheartening that my leg in no way got us any closer to the finish line). And now for the entirely mental journal that I bring to you to the best of my recollection.

4 a.m. - Didn't even need the three extra alarms set on my phone. Was able to hop (or at least crawl) right out of bed. Who would have thought it, especially at 4 a.m. (I've gone to bed later than this time.)

4:22 - No matter what I do, these arms simply aren't made for a tank top shirt. However, that is what the company has provided its sponsored teams. So it's what I wear. Also, note to self: when tank tops are unavoidable, order one in a size smaller than you normally wear. This thing might fall off me.

4:55 - At the H.E.B. just before the bridge to North Padre Island to catch buses to the starting line with all the other first and second leggers. Haven't seen this many people gathered together before 5 a.m. in a long time. Maybe never.5

5:25 - Let off the bus a good half a mile away from the starting line. Wouldn't be so disconcerting if it still wasn't the dead of night. The stars are still out, and we're all hiking in to darkness. Guess it's a good warmup

5:34 - Now we wait. Race doesn't start until 7 a.m. We just wait for the 3,000-plus people running either the first or the second leg to all get here.

6:26 - Powerbars are weird. They're chewy, but at the same time, they're grainy. What do they put in these things?

6:50 - Time to find a place in the horde of people. Our beach isn't that wide to begin with. Couple that with trying to squeeze 1,500 runners in a small area of it, and it makes for a very crowded area.

7:01 - Starting horn.

7:02 - I thought the sand was supposed to be more packed down than this. It most certainly is not. Most others seem to agree. Lots of traversing back and forth across the beach trying to find a lane that's solid.

7:05 - What was I thinking?

7:14 - In awe of the Kenyan who's already hit the turnaround and just passed me going the other way. I believe he finished in something just over 18 minutes.

7:21 - I hit the turnaround, but I can't let up any if I want to keep my time close to the 40-minute mark.

7:28 - Trouble strikes. All of a sudden I feel like I need to slow it down.

7:29 - There's never a reason to schedule rests during a run even if you really feel like you need it if you can coordinate those times with a quick and effective throw-up break. Some of you might be grossed out by this. But if you really know me, then you know that this really is no big deal for me. Just like any other week during the fall semester of my junior year of college.

7:31 - That's the best thing that could have happened. I feel good now, got my breath, and I'm good to go for the last push. Just lost a bit of time, so I'll have to pick it up.

7:42 - Make the handoff in just over 40 minutes. Don't feel like collapsing or anything, but it's good to be done. And even with the lost time, I still managed to keep the miles under 10 minutes each on average. And since the sand was even harder than anticipated, I'm thrilled to have kept it close to 40 minutes.

And so ends the mental journal. But the worst part of it all, I think, was still to come. Because now there are 1,500 tired people who want to leave North Padre Island, and most want to go back to Corpus over the one and only bridge in that direction. Many have their own cars there, but the rest of us pile on to shuttles. Of course, I was one of the group that didn't have a seat but was standing in the aisle. Who knew that it would take us an hour and a half to travel the 5 miles back to the H.E.B. I think I was more glad to be done with that trip than the actual run.

And now I'm lying on the couch, where I plan to be the rest of the day. It's not that I'm hurting so much right now. I did take a pre-emptive strike dose of Advil just in case. I'm just feeling tired, both from the run and from being up since 4 a.m. Tomorrow is when the soreness sets in. But until then, I'm just kicking back on the couch running up my electric bill to get it so cold I want to use a blanket. Maybe I'll get out a little later for some celebratory KFC. But that's going to be it.