A change in environment can alter an athlete’s routine, and for multi-event athletes on the men’s indoor track team, adjusting to outdoor events requires twice as much work.

During the winter season, multi-event athletes train for the five events in the pentathlon — the 55-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and the 1,000-meter run. But as the winter season winds down, the athletes shift their focus to prepare for the added workload of the decathlon.

“We’re working on discus again and then javelin, pole vault and longer distances,” junior Ryan Taylor said. “It’ll be even more bouncing around with the addition of more events to compete in.”

With five events in the pentathlon, athletes have to learn to adjust to the five additional events involved in the decathlon. Heading outdoors, the running events are all longer distances, and the addition of the javelin, pole vault and discus forces athletes to change the way they approach each event.

“It kills you to have one weak event in the pentathlon when you only have five to work with,” sophomore Doug Koury said. “Whereas the decathlon you can survive and handle each event at a mediocre level relative to everyone else, and you can get by with a couple of really good scores in a few events.”

Since every athlete has different strengths and weaknesses from event to event, it’s beneficial to all of the multi-event athletes when someone who has confidence in a certain event steps forward to offer advice to the group.

“I’m the stronger hurdler of the group, Ryan is one of the better runners and Doug can high jump,” sophomore Dan Moloney said. “We look to a specific person for tips on each event. It’s nice to have someone who knows what they’re doing.”

One important change from the pentathlon to the decathlon is that the 10 events are spread out evenly over two days, instead of five in one day. As one of the few upperclassmen multi-event athletes, Taylor said understanding the change from the pentathlon is vital to success.

“The biggest difference is that you have to do all the five events the next day,” Taylor said. “You’re exhausted from the first day, but you have to find the energy and the momentum to lead to the second.”

Maintaining this momentum is key throughout each event in the decathlon, but understanding the right time to warm up, hydrate and eat is just as important over the course of the competition.

“I don’t have all the experience in what works best physiologically,” Koury said. “After one of the events, [Head Coach Jim Nichols] will say, ‘This is when you need to eat so you’ll digest for the next couple events.’ He’s always letting us know, ‘Get loose now, eat now, drink now or start running around.’ He’s always making sure that you take each event as its own event.”

Taking each event individually while not getting hung up on one bad performance — especially at the start — helps the athletes refocus while preparing for events they have confidence in.

“When it comes to decathlon outdoors, if you’re just OK at all 10 events, you’re not really going to get very far,” Taylor said. “But if you’re really good at a few that’s how you’ll excel. It’s good to have that one event you know you’ll get points in — a safety event.”

Once the snow clears and athletes can get on the track and field at Butterfield Stadium, practicing on Ithaca College’s campus rather than having to travel to Cornell University’s indoor facilities will help maximize practice time for events.

“When we go to Cornell it’s 6:30 at night, and so everything is later on in the day,” Moloney said. “But when you have practice at 4 p.m. up at the track, you can just spend the whole day there.”

As athletes shift their priorities from the pentathlon to the decathlon, maintaining an upbeat and friendly competitive environment from one event to the next helps motivate each athlete to work harder.

“When you’re with a team like multi-eventers, each person has their specialty,” Koury said. “Everyone wants to try to beat the next person, and it’s fun to see who’s going to come out on top.”