I've never written a race report... I'm not fast, I haven't been running long, and I never have pictures to post (my boyfriend runs the races too, so there's no one to take the pictures).

Here's my back story: I had thyroid cancer last year, and had a couple of months where I didn't have a thyroid and wasn't taking replacement hormones while I waited to take radioactive iodine in order to kill whatever thyroid cells I had left. My metabolism tanked and I had zero energy. I gained a bit of weight (a bit = a lot) and felt like a slug. I went through my first annual post-cancer scan earlier this year and everything looked great. It was time to close the chapter and get back to a fully healthy me.

I was athletic in high school (field hockey, softball) but I had never run just to run. After high school I got lazy and a bit overweight. I used to say that if I wasn't being chased, then what was the point of running? However, once I got the all clear from the thyroid cancer, I decided it was time to take my health back in my hands and do something. I was fat and unhappy. I started couch to 5K in June.

Today was my fifth 5K. I ran my first 5K in September and ran it at 37:43. Each subsequent race has been an improvement.

Today's race was nice and flat; it was run in City Park in Denver. I had last run on Thanksgiving in Littleton, just south of Denver. That race was a loop and a narrow path, so I spent the first few minutes weaving and dodging. After the weaving and dodging I had a really good start to that race and had that in mind when I started this race. Apparently folks in Denver proper are faster because I went out too fast... my first mile was 10:19. Ooh boy. I run my training runs with a 12-12:30 pace. I had my Garmin on and realized I couldn't sustain that pace and tried to slow down. I managed to bring myself down to a 10:59 but still... more than I could handle. At the 2-mile marker I walked. For the first time ever in a 5K race, I walked for a minute. I figured it was better to walk for a minute than to keep slowing down for the rest of the race. It ended up being a good decision. I finished the third mile in 11:48; it could have been much slower if I had slogged on. I still had enough to push the last tenth of a mile; I beat my Thanksgiving day 5K by 40 seconds with a 34:33 finish. I was a little upset with myself for having gone out too fast, but I was still thrilled that I was able to take the walk break, start up again, and finish in a great time.

Since I'm so new to running, each race is a lesson. I saved too much for my Thanksgiving race, and today, I went out too early. I haven't posted a race report before because I felt like maybe I wasn't a real runner yet, or maybe I was still too new to really have anything to offer to anyone reading, or maybe I was so slow that what I thought was a big deal really wasn't to anyone else. Thing is, I can't possibly be the only person learning to love to run. I can't possibly be the only person making great strides in my running ability and having trouble judging what my race pace should be from month to month. If anything, I hope that someone like me reads this and feels a bit of encouragement. Yeah, I wish I hadn't gone out so fast today and yeah, I wonder what would have happened if I didn't run so conservatively last race but damn I'm out there and I never thought that I'd go from running a minute and then needing a walk break to second-guessing my sub-35 5K result less than 6 months later.

Whoo, this was longer than I thought it would be. I read all of your race reports and I marvel at the times and how quickly so many of you progress. You're all an inspiration to me and I really want to add my little bit to this wonderful community!