| date: Dec 10th, 2006 location: Dallas, TX number of finishers: 3507 number of females: 1231 number of males: 2276 average time: 04:21:04 |  | Michael Pluimer bib number: 964 age: 34 gender: M location: Raymond, MN |
Well, today started out great. Had a good night's sleep. Weather was nice - 40's and overcast in the morning. I woke at 5:20 a.m. It was nice to sleep in, rather than getting up at 3:00 for the typical Ironman! Race start was 8:00, and our hotel was just a few blocks from the start. There were over 3500 finishers in the race. Not sure how many started.
At the outset, I set a goal to break 3:00. Somewhat aggressive, as I hadn't run a stand-alone marathon since 2004, and my marathon personal best was 3:06. A 6:52/mile pace would get me under 3:00. I wanted to do the first half at a 6:45 - 6:50 pace, and allow myself some "breathing room" for the 2nd half. This typically isn't a good strategy, but I thought my short training program for this marathon (4 weeks) would mean that I wouldn't have the endurance needed to hold pace the whole way.
My first mile was 6:53, and I felt like I was working pretty good. Not a good start! I tried to pick it up on mile 2: 6:48. Again, disappointing. But I felt like I was starting to settle into a rhythm. By mile 3, I turned out a 6:35 or something, then a 6:31, and pretty soon settled into a 6:38 pace. I felt comfortable, and just was praising God to have the strength to race! Our God is SO Awesome!! Just to have legs to run is a blessing.
I carried the 6:38 pace through about mile 15. I started to run into some good headwinds, followed by a good hill. Miles 19 - 21 had a pretty decent climb! I managed a 6:55 pace or so up the hills, and by Mile 21 had just 5 miles to coast into the finish.
We (God and me) crossed the finish line in 2:55:47, 42nd out of 3507 finishers. 7th in my age group, out of 350-ish. Praise again goes to God for being gracious enough to allow me to accomplish another goal in my life: My first sub-3 marathon! Praise God!!
Race results are available at onlineraceresults.com
| time: | 2:55:47 | |
| pace: | 6:43 | |
| chip time: | 2:55:47 | |
| gun time: | 2:56:01 | |
| 10k: | 41:47 | |
| half: | 45:10 | |
| 35k: | 58:33 |
Nice Website - I love the name.
Awesome race Mike, congrats! It was nice bumping into you at the starting line. Now that my brain has thawed I'm remembering all the encouraging words I wanted to share with you before the gun went off: "May the God who grants endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 15:5-6).
Thanks, Aaron! Great to see you at the race start!!
Congratulations on a well run marathon! Keep up the great work of "running the race" for the glory of God!