Up and Running

Here it goes, just what the world needs, another blog. I decided to create a blog as a record for myself, and also in case anyone wants to keep up with my progress on the path to the World Masters Championships in Lahti 2009.
I decided to try to do a decathlon as a master after long jumping 20-7 in the Spokane nationals last August of 2008, and then realizing the next day I wasn't sore. I know, it's not much to go on as evidence that I'd be able to get through a whole decathlon at 45, but here I am, there's no turning back now.
I started training straight away, mostly weight lifting and pool running and throwing drills. I was running in the pool at first because about the same time I decided to train for a decathlon, my right Achilles started hurting. It didn't fully recover until January, 5 months later, but I did start running in mid-October because the doctor said running on it probably wouldn't do any further damage. He also said the pain may never go away, so I'm glad it did. I also started pole vaulting in October with Rick Baggett who has a great indoor facility in Oregon City. I don't think I would have tried to train for a deca without having him and his facility only 20 minutes away(without traffic). I'm very lucky to have it. The pole vault wasn't a strong event for me as a young decathlete, so I just didn't know what to expect. I really didn't know if I'd be able to vault 10 feet, but so far I'm vaulting respectably in practice, so as long as I don't no-height in a meet, it shouldn't be too much of a stumbling block. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to vault much from December through February because my right shoulder developed a really bad pain diagnosed as impingement. It is better now, but not gone altogether, so I've been living with this pain for almost 6 months now. Besides hampering the vaulting, it's seriously hurt my upper body strength and throwing practice. That said, I'm able to do most of what I want to do now, so with three months to go until Lahti, I should be able to get back close to my potential in the throws.
I'll try not to spend too much time complaining about injuries, but I am a little injury prone it seems, and it's just one after another. In addition to the Achilles and shoulder, I bruised my heel hurdling the first week of March, and that still bothers me, and something happened to my left knee mid-March, and that's just now getting better. It feels like any day training out there could be my last, but I'll try to keep perspective and keep on trucking until my body just cracks in half if I can. I'm not training for the Olympics, and if I don't do that well because of injuries or any other reason, it just doesn't matter, it's more important now to finish a decathlon.