2008 Season Recap
Well, it's been far too long since I've updated you all on my race season. It has been an interesting year. Not my best season for racing, but not my worst either. And there is more to come (Dallas White Rock Marathon in December).
Due to a job change in July and a lot of work with Join the Race, I didn't do as many races this year as I have in years past. My race year consisted of just 3 running race and 3 triathlons. Typically, I'll do double that. The highlight of the year was the Boston Marathon, where I finished sub-3 and had the privilege of running a mile with Lance Armstrong (he was on the side of the road stretching at Mile 11, and as I ran by I told him he was one of my heroes; as I was thinking how cool it was to have ran by Lance, I looked over and he was running with me! We ran from 11 - 12 together at a 6:28 pace. Rather than trying to be a hero and finish with "the Man", I decided to run my race and watch the yellow jersey pull away). God really blessed this race, as I had no intentions of breaking 3 at the start of the race, and really hadn't trained to do that well. So, it was encouraging to feel God's presence and blessing throughout the race, and I again give him all the glory for that day.
Here are my race results:
I also had the privilege of meeting Dick and Rick Hoyt following the race. They were running their 26th Boston Marathon. It was pretty cool to see them. Here is a picture of us:
Coming in a close second to Boston was the Prinsburg 4th of July Run. Now, I know that seems a far cry from Boston, but it is always one of my most special races, and this year was even more special as my whole family ran in the race! This is a 2.4 mile jaunt around Prinsburg. The first time I ran it was in 2004. I was training for my first Ironman at the time - Ironman Wisconsin. The Prinsburg race was called a "fun run" in those days, and attracted maybe 50 - 80 runners. I was feeling pretty good and decided to go for a win. At the start of the race, three of us took off - myself and two high school boys. Soon one of them dropped back and it was just two of us - me and Adam Mikelson, an athletic young man with a smooth effortless stride. We were running a pretty fast clip, so I dropped back about 50 feet from Adam, thinking that there was no way this 15-year old kid would keep that pace. I figured I'd let him get some breathing room, and then slowly reel him in with a mile to go as he would certainly fade. As we got 1.4 miles into the race, with just one more mile to go, I decided it was time to make my move. However, much to my chagrin, the gap never seemed to lessen between me and Adam. In fact, it seemed to increase. The harder I ran, the farther the gap. Adam went on to win the race, and I came in second. I never forgot it. Lesson learned: if you're going to go for a win, never give 50 feet to a runner who is equally determined to win!
After the race, I decided to find out who this young speedster was, as I didn't really know him. Well, Adam and I became pretty good friends after that, and I was helping him train for some triathlons in the spring of 2006 when his life tragically ended in a car accident on March 23, just a couple months from his high school graduation. This incident changed my life forever, and I still have vivid memories of that young athlete striding to the finish of the Prinsburg fun run in first place. After his death in 2006, we restructured the race to include a kid's race called Adam's Run. Adam was very involved with the elementary kids at Central Minnesota Christian School, and we felt it was appropriate and fitting to have a kid's race. So, Prinsburg State Bank has sponsored this race, providing shirts and goodies for all kids ages pre-K to 6th grade, to compete within their age groups on a half-mile run course. All finishers get a shirt, and the top two in each age group get medals. The 2.4 mile "fun run" has also changed to the Freedom Run, and now attracts over 200 racers.
This year was very special to me, as my son, Michael, age 9, decided to run the 2.4 mile Freedom Run, as well as Adam's Race! Rather than trying to defend my title from last year, I decided to run it with the family. My wife Heather ran, as well as Michael Jr., and I pushed my daughter Maddie in the Burley stroller. Now, Michael hadn't been training much. In fact, the farthest he had ever ran was 2 miles, and that was the year before. Heather had been training for the race, and was up to running 3 miles, at around a 10 minute/mile pace. I was convinced that Michael would start off fast, and fade by a mile, needing to either walk or go in the stroller for the remainder of the run. I tried to pace him. We finished the first mile in about 9:15. I thought that was too fast and encouraged him to slow down. But he said he was feeling good, so we kept running. With boundless energy, Michael ran up on the curb, then down on the street, then jumped up to hit some leaves in a low-hanging tree, then run up on the curb again, with his Air Jordan basketball shoes just loosely tied. I kept waiting for him to crash. We completed our second mile in 9:30. To my amazement, we finished the race together in under 23 minutes, averaging around 9:30/mile! Heather seemed more tired than Michael at the end! Then, to cap it off, Michael decided to run Adam's Race and finished that half mile race 2nd in his age group. Needless to say, I was a proud Dad, and still am amazed at his endurance and determination in that race. It was definitely a highlight for me.
Here is a picture of us finishing the 2.5 mile race together, as well as a picture of Michael crossing the line in Adam's race following our 2.5 mile run.
The only other running race I did was earlier in the year - the Frozen 5K in Spicer, MN. It was 18 below zero that day, so the race name fit the conditions! 96 of us braved the conditions that day. I came in 4th with a relatively pedestrian time of 19:17 (6:13 pace), but the highlights came after the finish, as my nose was frozen solid! The medics gave some attention to me, and slowly thawed out the white freezer-burned flesh. The swelling went down a few days later, and I fortunately didn't do any long-term damage. Nonetheless, it was scary for a bit. A few minutes into the race, I was struggling breathing with my face-mask, so I took it off. Seemed like a good idea at the time. But, I guess exposed skin and 18 below zero aren't a good combination, even for a short 19 minutes. Lesson learned.
As far as triathlons go, it was a fair season. Certainly not my best, but OK. I did just 3 triathlons: Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June, the Whirlpool Steelhead Half Ironman on August 4, and the Green Lake Olympic triathlon the following week on August 11. Coeur d'Alene was a tough race. Last year I finished in 11:03. This year, I was hoping to just have a good time and finish. I was more relaxed than I've ever been before an Ironman. We had a great home stay with a wonderful Christian couple (Thanks Ryan and Jamie Barton!!). Heather and I had a wonderful time. Race day came, and I didn't feel it from the beginning. For some reason, I just felt it was going to be a bad day. The swim started off OK. The water was cold (58 degrees), but it actually felt pretty good. The swim was uneventful, and I finished in 1:19. I was pleased with that considering my lack of swimming this year. However, I started to cramp quite a bit on the second lap, and that was concerning. On to the bike... I felt great on the bike... for the first 10 miles! After that, I started to feel nauseous again. I can't figure out what happened. My heart rate was relatively low, but I just started to get real sick. I tried to drink and eat a bit throughout the first lap, but it became quite evident that it wasn't going to happen. I quit drinking and eating by mile 35 or 40, and just hoped to slug through the finish. By mile 70, I was hurting pretty bad, and was feeling the effects of no food or water. At that point, I seriously was contemplating dropping out. However, I decided to keep fighting to the end of the bike, and thought I'd drop out at that time. It was very humbling to get passed by so many people on those last 40 miles. By the time I got to T2, I was convinced I was done. However, I decided to spend some time in the changing tent and see if I wanted to walk the marathon or not. So, I rested for 17 minutes in T2, looking at my shoes, then looking at the ground. Shoes, ground. Shoes, ground. I really didn't want to put on those running shoes! I finally made up my mind to lace up the shoes and walk the marathon. I figured I'd finish in 15 or 16 hours. However, once I got out on the course, I had a terrible time walking! I wanted to run so bad. So, I started running. I got to mile 2.5, and found Heather. I told her I was incredibly nauseous and that I would be walking most of the marathon, and may drop out. I was concerned about my heart, and really didn't want to do any harm to myself. At mile 3, I forced myself to throw up to try to ease my stomach. I didn't help much, as I mostly had dry heaves since I had no food or liquids in my stomach. I still felt quite nauseous. I started walking with a guy who was just smiling ear to ear. He was so happy to be walking, and knew he'd be finishing his first Ironman. We walked from 4 to 7 together, and I had the wonderful opportunity to tell him why I race (Join the Race and other charities). It was pretty cool. At the 7.5 mile turnaround, I told him I was going to run down the hill we just walked up. He started to run with me, but told me to go ahead. I told him I'd see him at the bottom. However, I got to the bottom, and decided to keep running. I ran all the way to mile 18! At 18, I was pretty much done. At that moment, I was perfectly content walking the rest of the way home, as I was still very sick and hurting. Jeff Bond passed me at mile 19, and I encouraged him and wished him luck. He looked great in his first Ironman! At mile 21, something was stirring in my soul that just didn't feel comfortable walking. I felt that I had to leave everything I had on the course, and if there was any possible way to run, I had to run. So, I said to God, "What do you say we run it home and get in under 13 hours?" I seemed to feel God's encouragement, so I put one foot in front of the other and started running. I ran from one aid station to the next, dousing myself with water and drinking cola at each station. I got to mile 23 and caught Jeff. He was shocked to see me, and said he'd been praying for me ever since he passed me! He was then struggling a bit, and I told him to stick by me and we'd finish sub-13. I kept feeling better as we ran, and we ran shoulder to shoulder to the finish! We finished in 12:51, my 2nd slowest Ironman. However, I finished proud, knowing that I gave it all I had and left it all on the course. A couple hours later we got to watch Derek Cruze finish his first Ironman.
The Whirlpool Steelhead Triathlon was my next quest. It, too, was a disappointing race. Race morning brought strong winds, and as we were walking 1.2 miles up the beach to the start at 6:30 a.m., they announced that they were cancelling the swim due to the strong winds and waves. They substituted a 2.1 mile run for the swim, making it a duathlon - 2.1 mile run, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run. Unfortunately, the delay caused some problems for me. By the time my wave started the run, we were 2 hours past schedule, and I was already feeling hungry and dehydrated. It wasn't a good start. I felt OK on the run and the bike, but didn't eat or drink enough (200 calories total) to sustain me on the run. I again felt nauseous on the run, and limped to my 2nd slowest half ironman run time (1:45). It would have been even slower, but my friend Webb passed me on mile 11 and I decided to try to run him down. He started 3 minutes ahead of me, so I had some cushion. However, for some reason I decided to chase after him. I caught him on mile 12.2, and we ran the last mile together. However, we both were pushing hard, and I was greatly feeling the effects. We finished shoulder to shoulder, and I ended up in the medical tent with an IV in my arm! Again, severely dehydrated. Not my best day.
The next week we travelled to Spicer for the Olympic distance triathlon. I had a decent swim, coming out of the water in 16th place out of 100 or so athletes. The bike was going OK - nothing real great, but hanging around 22 - 23 mph - until the 2nd lap. I got to mile 14 on the second lap and one of the sprint triathletes swerved in front of me. I reacted quickly to pull around her, and swerved right into a cone! I went down at 25 mph, which obviously didn't feel too good! My chain came off the bike, and I had a good crack in my helmet and knob on my head, as well as some road rash. After contemplating what to do and regaining my senses, I decided to put the chain back on the bike, straighten out the derailleur and brakes, and finish the race. I rode the rest of the bike course rather shaken up, and then limped to the finish on the 10K run. To my amazement, I ended up finishing 12th overall, and still won my age group. The day capped off when Maddie ran into a trailer on the beach as I was looking for ice for my head, and we had to make a trip to the emergency room for her to get 3 stitches in her forehead. "Not a good day for the Pluimer family!", as Maddie would later exclaim. Heather and I had to hold Maddie down while the doctor administered the Novocain into her forehead. She screamed louder than I had ever heard, and it took 4 shots to numb the wound for stitches. Michael finished the day off by getting nauseous while looking at Maddie's bleeding forehead.
So, the race season thus far has been a disappointment, other than the Boston Marathon and Adam's Race. However, that's how it goes! I've been feeling better, although my heart rate is still elevated. My blood pressure seems slightly better, and the chest pains have subsided. That said, I'm still planning a trip to Mayo Clinic to have my Wolff-Parkinson's-White Syndrome further investigated by the expert doctors on staff. We are considering the possibility of surgery to correct this condition, but will leave that to the experts at Mayo to decide. We appreciate your prayers in this matter.
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