More Photos From the Decathlon

100 - There were 2 false starts (the first from me), so my start was more tentative then usual. That didn't stop me from moving into the lead at the 40m mark, though, BAM! Finished in an acceptable 11.95 with a 0.4 m/s headwind. (current decathlon PB - 11.58, +1.0)

LJ - I was looking for a PB in this event since the the last competition was 2 cm off and after two 100m races. The first jump was a solid 6.18. This set me up for 2 nothing-to-lose attempts, a foul and a 6.24. (current decathlon PB - 6.32, +2.9)


An amazing takeoff, only to have the official raise the red flag, signaling a foul.


SP - 8.43. Technique was off despite a PB a few weeks ago. If only those legs (as seen in the photo below) could be harnessed! LOL. (current decathlon PB - 8.54)


HJ - During the pre-comp meeting with the official, I asked for the heights to go through 1.66, a 1cm PB. I missed the first attempt at 1.63 but the second was an excellent jump. I couldn't repeat it at 1.66. (current decathlon PB - 1.65)

400 - 1. The lane draw sucked. I got lane 6... of 6. 2. Competitors in lanes 4 & 5 pulled out. 3. One the guys that pulled out false started... Despite this, I managed to stay out in front the entire way. The time so just how out of shape I still am: 53.57 (current decathlon PB - 51.44)

So this was a solid, but not spectacular Day 1. My score at this point was 2837. Current PB is 3030.

110mH - The second attempt at getting 3 strides between hurdles was much more successful than the last - 8 of 9. With this new stride rhythmn it was almost impossible to get a huge new PB - 19.83, +1.0 - previous PB, 21.22.

DT - Argh! The warmup was very good. There was lines marked out at every 10m, so I could easily see that I threw more than 30m during warmups (that would have been a massive dec PB). What happened in the actual competition was a bit unfortunate. The first throw felt a bit off coming out of the back of the circle - foul. The second - foul. I needed to make sure that I got points for this event, so I had to do a standing throw - 25.09 (current decathlon PB - 26.10)

PV - I didn't have access to a stiff enough pole, so I was in the right frame of mind from the beginning. Cleared my starting height of 3.51, but not 3.71. Disappointing. (current decathlon PB - 3.80)

JT - Here I could have easily set a new PB, but I didn't take the time to clear my mind after the pole vault and set up for the next event. I just wasn't feeling it. During the first approach I let my arm drop and the end of the javelin clipped the ground (26-something), on the second I overstrode and fouled the line, the last was a barely acceptable 30.49. (current decathlon PB - 33.22)

1500 - I chose to follow the pack. First lap was done in 71, a little faster than the goal of 76. During the second the athlete leading the pack pulled out, and had I been more experienced in running the 1500 I would have passed and lead out at this point. Instead I needed to heard that the last lap was done in 86. I made my move and finished in a surprisingly easy 4:42.6 (current decathlon PB - 4:39.7)

Due to the massive hurdles PB and unusual (for me) occurence of a decathlon with reasonably solid (for me) results for all the events, I hit a Day 2 PB of 2186 and an overall decathlon PB of 5023 - the first over 5000 points. Woot.

Coming, in 4 weeks time: PBs in LJ, SP, HJ, 110H, DT, JT, 1500 and overall. BAM!