A personal insight into the decathlon

Chivito550

Last weekend I took part in the Victorian Championship decathlon and I think this is one event that I'd like not to see get lost in the training logs so I thought I'd post it here more publicly. I'm most certainly not a proper decathlete but the event is so unique in the bonds and camaraderie formed with competitors that I'd like to share the experience. I'm hoping by posting this here it might encourage other run of the mill average runners, like myself, to give this event a shot, at least once, for fun. It is enormously enjoyable, and it would be great to see more people compete in the Irish National decathlon as the numbers don't look great, compared to here in Victoria.

Here's my account of DAY 1, followed by DAY 2.

Krusty_Clown

Well done again Chivito. Might it be an idea to suggest how one might approach getting involved in Decathlon from an Irish perspective? Are there clubs that offer training and field athletes for the decathlon? Are there competitions in Ireland?

RayCun

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Are there competitions in Ireland?

The Combined Events championship in August. Pentathlon for distinguished older gentlemen like ourselves

Chivito550

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Well done again Chivito. Might it be an idea to suggest how one might approach getting involved in Decathlon from an Irish perspective? Are there clubs that offer training and field athletes for the decathlon? Are there competitions in Ireland?

I guess when it comes to proper decathletes (not deca-plodders like myself!), they tend to have a few different coaches, often in different venues, to cover all the different disciplines. One of the lads was telling me he has 4 coaches, and that he used to have more. I'm not quite in the know with regards Ireland at the moment as I have been away awhile, but one would imagine that there should be coaching available for the more accessible field events (long jump, throws) available in the bigger clubs. The likes of pole vault which is really specialist is a stumbling block indeed, but it shouldn't stop one giving the event a go if interested.

How many decathlons in Ireland? Again I'm not sure. The National Championship is on the same weekend this year as League Final but besides that I'm unsure.

notsofast

AAI have a combined events squad that have regular training sessions. At those sessions, a variety of coaches are in attendance covering most events. Approach them if you are interested, Athletics ireland combined events on Facebook.

Some of these squad members travel to the UK for competition and up to the NI champs.

As well at the National Indoor and outdoor championships, Athletics Leinster also hold Combined event championships for Juv/Junior/Senior and Masters so with the Ni Champs there are at least 4 a year in Ireland. (Plus the intervarsities indoor and outdoor)

Chivito550

Here's the Facebook page for those interested:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Combined-Events-Squad/185993468088244?fref=ts

gerard_65

/SNIP