Back in High School, I was a pretty much an all-around guy without training. I was never the best at anything but was consistently "good" at everything. At 16, these were my stats:
100m: 11.4
200m: 23.9
400m: 52.xx
800m: 2:08
6000m XC: 21:20 (achieved in competition after only training 4 x 6000m/week on the streets near my house for 3 weeks)
Long jump: 6.12m
Discus: forgot, but it was enough to medal
Shot put: same, enough to medal
(Body at 16)
Height: 1.83m (6 foot)
Weight: 135-140 lbs.
I also did a half-marathon for fun a while back (at 155 lbs), and got 1:19 (6 weeks of training - no prior training before).
Now, I'm thinking of joining college track, and I have no idea which event to try out for. I never did weights back during high school track, but I have now, and I'm at 160 lbs. I don't know how much of an improvement I'd get on the 100 with that extra power yet. I enjoy both very long distance (5-10K) and short distance races (100-400m), and long jump + throwing. I'm not into decathlons: not good at hurdles, high jump, javelin throw, never tried pole vault (haven't trained much so not really good at events that require technique). When I sprint, I can generate a lot of power for short distances, usually good starts and top speed, but not much muscular endurance at those high speeds. When I do long distance, I can run at 16 kph (10mph) for a very long time (over an hour) but without much aerobic training, my cardio gets to me if I increase the speed to 18 or 20 kph.
I want to start training seriously now, and see how far I can get. Should I go sprinting or long distance running?