Blog Archive:

June 2006

May 2006

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March 2006

February 2006

Dimitry's Full Recap of the 2005 Double Dec.

April 24, 2006

400 Hurdles are No Picnic...

Another track meet, another illness, another rainy day.  Life is great in the beautiful Bay Area, or what a permanent climate change will soon transform into the "New Seattle."  Actually, things are looking up.  Picnic Day at UCD was terrific - it was my only second time that I went on campus and enjoyed the food and festivities at Davis (in my eleven years as a student or alum,) and my first as a father. It was a great time, and Devin saw the Doxie races (his favorite) and got to milk a goat! The Woody Wilson track meet follows the Picnic Day festivities, and after driving back to Petaluma to drop a sick Devin off with a very sick mother, I came BACK to Davis that night to compete in the 400 hurdles.  The weather started to turn, but fortunately I missed any rain for my race at 8PM.  I have to feel good about my performance - I ran even splits, and while I was technically awkward over the hurdles, it was extremely encouraging for someone with little hurdle work, another lung infection (yes, I was healthy for a whole stretch of 9 days there) and a sloppy race; my 59.48 (a respectable 625 points in scoring) should have been 2 seconds slower.  55.74, my best, suddenly seems within reach - which is ultimately the good news from the race: I feel like I can start to set some new best marks in the middle sprint and hurdle races, something I would have not considered possible last week.  I'm looking forward to more good weather, taking a 4-6 week break from competition and really going after some hard-core middle distance training sessions.

Also, Justin Bishop, a fellow US double-decathlete, is hosting the USA Double Decathlon Championships in Albany, NY in August.  My focus now will be for this meet.  While this greatly bumps up my schedule, it is a huge $ savings - Southwest flies direct to Albany from Oakland for about ten times less than the cheapest flights to Australia. This means I will most likely not participate in the World Championships this year, which will be okay - in 2007 I should be ready to clear heights over 4 meters in the vault and throw the hammer a respectable distance.  If I can bring my 400 hurdles down below 55.7 and my open 400 below 50.11, I may be able to have personal bests in every jumping, throwing and running event below 800 meters AFTER I turn 30 years old!  (That 1:58 800 will probably always be held by the 19 year old Dimitry, and the 36 minute 10k will ALWAYS be held by the 15-year old, 5'6", 120lb Dimitry.)

On pole vault news - I am regularly clearing 2.8m (9'6") with a very recent clearance over a bungee cord at 3.2m (10'6") and a "clearance" over a bungee cord at 3.35m (11') - all using a slow and easy 9 step (4 left leg) approach.  Once I overcome this foolish self-preservation instinct and can drop my shoulders and go vertical with the pole, I'll start bending poles and really jump some good heights.  I will have downloadable vault, throws and jumping videos (of world-class athletes) and other coaching stuff very soon, as I accumulate and organize this for my own training.  I'll also get some photos or video of me jumping for great comedy, and for what will be a phenomenal before-and-after sequence!

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April 2, 2006

Picking Up the Pieces...

The March 29-30 Cal Atlas & Athena Challenge Decathlon started with 15 athletes, seven finished in poor weather, dodging early season injuries.  Good news - I was one of those seven.  Bad news - I probably should not have been one of those seven; an hour after the 1500 meters, I was coughing up Christmas colors - battling a cold that turned into a lung infection during the meet. 

I had a collection of decent performances in Day 1 (there were some great performances from other truly talented decathletes - although most turned the meet into a workout, there was impressive stuff going on at UCB, nevertheless.)  All told, I had five season bests out of the ten events (not counting the 110 hurdles, which I have not done prior to the meet.)  My friend and training partner Sam McClellan showed up to see most of my events for day 1 - in fact, the five events I had support/friends/family were my best - probably not a coincidence.  A slow 100 pissed me off enough to inspire some decent long jumping - my safety jump that was 20-30cm behind the board was still 5.8 meters, and a hairline scratch got close to 6.25m - very promising.  The shot was similar, with an awkward and flat release getting me 10.71 meters, my third best throw ever.  Worried I would clear opening height (a skyscraper-esque 1.51 meters, or a little taller than my 2-year old) in the high jump, I cleared that and the next three heights easily.  But the cough medicines, fever reducers and decongestants could only hold back my symptoms for so long - and I finally began to fall apart in an anemic 400 meters - 53.94 - almost 4 seconds off my best.  I went home wet, tired, but reasonably pleased.  (By the way - rainy multi-events are seeming to be a norm for me - if I ever see the sun during competition I may melt, or turn to a pillar of salt.  WHAT IS WITH THE "SUNNY CALIFORNIA" WEATHER!?!?)

Day 2 was a total disaster - a stumble in the hurdles and I jogged to the finish for almost no points, and for some reason I forgot how to throw the discus, (almost no points, again) and then no-heighted in the vault (NO points.)  So, in my first three events I scored less points than I planned to score in the first event that day.

My very good friend Emily showed up in the miserable conditions to watch, photo and video my jav, where all three of my throws were my best - my series going 41.23, 41.20, 41.52 meters - how's that for consitency!  (All ~136 feet, or 6 feet further than I have ever thrown, and 42 feet further than I threw last October!)  You can see a QuickTime video of my best throw, a photo sequence of my throw, compare it to a photo sequence of the World Record, and see a great still image of my second throw, all below.  When I learn to overcome some serious form issues in this event, 50+ meters is not far off.)  Emily also shuttled my car for free parking and pickups/dropoffs - I felt like a pro athlete with a very dedicated coach.  THANKS EM!!!  My mom arrived just in time to see my last throw and the 1500, and Dawn and Devin arrived just in time to see my 1500  - an event I would have never started had everyone not been there.  To have anyone come out and watch a track meet in which 90% of the time is spent waiting to compete is fairly impressive and deserves a ton of thanks. 

Javelin Stuff: ("bounding" approach, arm bend early/no "stretch", hand too low, left leg collapse, jav not straight, and a "fall over" to the left at the end of the throw, but otherwise decent form!)

I have taken the last two days completely off to rest, heal and recover from my infection.  Starting up again will be rough - but there is much promise and a lot to look forward to.  I don't know when I'll do a decathlon again, but this won't be my last!

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Links:

Multi-Event Points Calculator - Enter your Marks & See Your Score

IAUM - the governing body for the Double Decathlon

All-Time Double Decathlon World Lists, Master's, Women's & Open. (individual & event performances)

2005 Double Dec. World Championship Complete Results

USA T&F - United States Track and Field

DecathlonUSA.org - history, records, current info on the decathlon

Stabhochsprung - the most comprehensive video history of vaulting

VS Athletics - track and field supplies, equipment

Change of Pace.com: N.California Running & Training Clubs

Kip Janvrin's Post-World Record Interview

Masters Track.com: Masters Track and Field Website

Have a link you want posted here or that should be posted here?  email Dimitry