[Spoilers]
Level 11, finished the Companions storyline. I've killed three dragons so far. The first one that gets you the Thane title in Whiterun, a random encounter, and one dragon that was revived by another dragon.
I'm a redguard going with heavy armor and two-handed weapons. I have a nice set of steel armor (chestplace has 78 armor!!!) and a decent axe that does 48 damage. I've put all my perks into heavy and two-handed, but I've decided to throw some into smithing.
In the past I would blaze through games and try to finish the storyline, doing all the side stuff on a second playthrough. Now I'm taking my time and doing as much side stuff first as possible. I like having the extra levels and perks going into the fight.