Decathlon Day One

Day one of the Cal Berkeley decathlon down, day two cancelled because of weather. What a crazy week it's been.

I went into my first decathlon in almost two years relaxed and confident on what I needed to accomplish. My biggest goal, to just compete!! It has felt like ages since I have had a competition under my belt and I needed to go out and prove to myself that my blood still runs rich with competitive juices. And boy does it ever.

The meet was Wednesday and Thursday and the weather cooperated 20% of the time. Which reinforces the saying, "if you are in a drought and need rain, just hold a decathlon." California has seen some of its worst weather all year this past week and Wednesday and Thursday were no exception. The first day started with pouring rain and 52 degrees for the hundred meters. Jack and I decided to run a relaxed race since it was my first of the season. So I came out strong and didn't push it and clocked 11.48, not too good of a time but I was healthy and ready for the next event.

The sun shined for a half an hour as we long jumped and I felt ready for a big jump. My first jump felt great but I scratched it and then got a mark on my second jump around 22 feet. Feeling ready and strong I hit a new personal best 7.59 meters on my final jump!! Close to 25 feet and personal best by almost a foot. I was so pumped!!

It was a little rainy for shot put and couldn't find a comfortable position as I mustered a 44 foot throw, which isn't too bad for the conditions. High jump was next and was another highlight of the meet as I jumped 6'7'' and have some good looks at the next height. Both jumping events really felt fantastic and I can't wait to compete again. The final event of day one was the 400 meters and it proved a difficult one for everyone as the rain turned from showers to pouring! The track flooded and the gun went off and everyone clocked subpar times, myself at 51.47 seconds. One of the worst I have run. It was disappointing but as I look back at the meet and the training preparation that went into it I knew my running wasn't where in needed to be. Almost three weeks with strep throat and then food poisoning after that made it tough for me to run workouts.

Day 2 came with more rain and 30-40mph winds so the meet officials had to call the competition. Even though its hard not to finish a decathlon I think it was for the best. I'm back home now nursing a few dings that come with the territory of being a multi event athlete and then back to hard training monday with my sights set on Mt Sac Relays decathlon the third week of April. I can't wait!

Here is a video of the last long jump practice before the big PR. It actually wasn't that great of a practice but it helped me work on a few things that needed to be done in competition which I accomplished. More posts to come soon!!

Location:High St,San Luis Obispo,United States