And now the numbers...

So this is about how it shapes up for me for each of the events of the decathlon so far in training, or in meets over the past couple years. I hate to set a point total goal, because there are so many variables and black holes where things can go wrong, but the American record in the 45-49 is Rex Harvey from 1991 at 7502.

Event........... Mark............ Points.............. Mark age<20
100m ............12.1.............. 826.................. 11.1
LongJump ....20-7 .............911.................. 24-0
Shot Put....... 38-6............. 671.................. 47-0
High Jump... 5-11.............. 900................. 6-9
400m............ 55.0.............. 832................. 50.7
110mHurd... 16.5??........... 834................. 14.4
(high school highs, what I run now in 45 age group)
Discus........... 128-0............ 684................. 156-0
Pole Vault..... 12-2.............. 720................. 14-1
Jav................. 130............... 570................. 195
1500m........... 5:00............. 755................. 4:32
Total..................................... 7703..............around 8000h (pb's)
The totals are close only because the points for masters are age-adjusted. For example, the world record in the long jump is 117.87% of the world record for 45 year olds, so if you take my mark of 20-7 and multiply it by 1.1787 you get 24-4. I actually did that jump when I was 44, and the age adjustment came out to exactly what I did when I was younger, but it probably doesn't usually work out that closely.

I haven't run a full set of hurdles yet, so that's a guess, but I'll do a race or two before the world champs, so I'll get a better idea then.

My best sprint workout so far this spring was 5x200 averaging 26.9. I probably couldn't do that at the moment because of the knee problems, but I should be able to get back there in about three weeks time. The 400m is really important, because I have to be able to run a decent time and then come back the next day and be able to warmup for the hurdles in the morning. I'm sure it's harder at 45.