Mary Cain is BACK! Cain runs (and wins) 4 mile race in Central Park

webbjamin wrote:

Is her plan now to be an age group champ and live a normal (non-elite runner) life?

who was that girl who went to stanford as a hs phenom. ended up in nyc working in finance would do well in the local nyc road races.

I disrespectfully disagree with your oversimplification. If running fast feels easy is your only motivation to run fast, then you don't have the heart of a champion. Giving your all isn't supposed to be easy. Perhaps she thought more like you in the big races and that's why she underachieved. Because it's supposed to feel easy afterall...

SDSU Aztec wrote:

bartholomew_maxwell wrote:

One problem though. Winning a small, no pressure race like this is a big difference from competing in the big races where she froze up. As soon as she gets into a race with a big spotlight, she's going to either show that she has conquered those demons or she'll be in the same predicament.

Her biggest issues have always been more psychological than physical.

You're a psychiatrist and you've met with her? In HS she ran very fast and was competitive in any situation. Since then, it's been difficult her and it's likely that there has been some type of change in her psyiolology that has nothing to do with pressure or demons.

She's like everyone else; if running fast feels easy, she'll run fast and if running slowly feels hard, she'll run slow times.

There's no evidence that ANY of her problems were psychological.

Given her intelligence and her family background, I'd say she's destined for success in her chosen career and probably a pretty nice life

bartholomew_maxwell wrote:

I disrespectfully disagree with your oversimplification. If running fast feels easy is your only motivation to run fast, then you don't have the heart of a champion. Giving your all isn't supposed to be easy. Perhaps she thought more like you in the big races and that's why she underachieved. Because it's supposed to feel easy afterall...

SDSU Aztec wrote:

You're a psychiatrist and you've met with her? In HS she ran very fast and was competitive in any situation. Since then, it's been difficult her and it's likely that there has been some type of change in her psyiolology that has nothing to do with pressure or demons.

She's like everyone else; if running fast feels easy, she'll run fast and if running slowly feels hard, she'll run slow times.

No, you can only push your body as fast as it will go. If you're in 4:00 flat shape, the first 2 laps in 2:00 will feel easy and if you're in 4:10 shape, 2:00 will feel too fast and no amount determination will help the 4:10 guy. I ran a lot faster as a senior than I did as a sophomore and it wasn't because I had more heart as a senior.

I watched a state meet 2-mile a long time ago where the two leaders went out in 4:27. One guy said it felt easy and the other guy said it felt fast. Who do you think won?

Hayduke wrote:

webbjamin wrote:

Is her plan now to be an age group champ and live a normal (non-elite runner) life?

who was that girl who went to stanford as a hs phenom. ended up in nyc working in finance would do well in the local nyc road races.

Stamps?

What The wrote:

There's no evidence that ANY of her problems were psychological.

Given her intelligence and her family background, I'd say she's destined for success in her chosen career and probably a pretty nice life

Intelligence is a predictor of neurosis now? Trauma response?

SDSU Aztec wrote:

I watched a state meet 2-mile a long time ago where the two leaders went out in 4:27. One guy said it felt easy and the other guy said it felt fast. Who do you think won?

A better question is: who has a higher pain tolerance??? You clearly never saw Ritz's footlocker championship finishes in high school. He hurt more than everyone else at the end of the race...and he won...

runn wrote:

Good to race wrote:

Those conversions are worthless - hilly road race where she was presumably alone in the rain. Glad she’s back to racing and hope for some good track performances this summer.

They're not worthless. Combine them with what you added about the race and they are more promising. Thanks for adding your part!

Put the course and conditions into here.

NewtotheSouthSide wrote:

Someone like her is probably a stone's throw away from being at least in 4:15-ish 1500 shape. Clearly she got burnt out & went through some growing pains. If she wants to mount a comeback, I support her. If she wants to train for fun and win races like this, I support her. It'd be great to see her get on the track this summer!

I'm glad that she's been posting a lot about running on social media. I'm glad that she's back competing.

Those are all good signs.

The problem is 4:15 doesn't get you anything as a pro. To be honest, 4:05 doesn't really get you too much as a pro in the US. I mean you can be Sara Vaughn and MAYBE sneak on to a team. But for the most part in track, you need to be one of the top 12 in the world which is super tough.

The premise of predicting times that that site uses is absolutely garbage. It only considers ONE factor at a time in each tab. Thus, it's foolish to rely on it. A race involves multiple factors at once. Where is the tab combining temperature and altitude change? Given that there are 12 conditions, there are (12 choose N) (n = 1 to n = 12) possible combinations of factors to consider. Or more formally, Sigma(summation) (12 choose N) from N = 1 to N = 12.

try this? wrote:

runn wrote:

They're not worthless. Combine them with what you added about the race and they are more promising. Thanks for adding your part!

Put the course and conditions into here.

https://thesecretofrunning.com/calculator/

As a corollary to my above post: you'd have to identify which N factors from the 12 factors on the website were at play and then plug those in a combined calculator to make an accurate assessment. For example, suppose the altitude change was 0, but there were temperate and wind issues. Then you'd need to take into those 2 factors. That one factor per tab is not enough.

try this? wrote:

runn wrote:

They're not worthless. Combine them with what you added about the race and they are more promising. Thanks for adding your part!

Put the course and conditions into here.

https://thesecretofrunning.com/calculator/

9 out of 10 wrote:

@elmorez wrote:

Sez the guy beating it to her

9 out of 10 letsrunners suffer from body dysmorphia. However, she looks to be getting leaner.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BktSTS9HaRh/https://www.instagram.com/p/BwvGjC1BIor/https://www.instagram.com/p/BxXsDHphO_l/

I really urge LR to ban posters who engage in female body-shaming. Take a stand with a no-tolerance policy, please.

It makes me happy to see her out there racing again.

Mary looks fit. I am a huge fan and am excited to watch her suceed in whatever she decides to do. Go Mary!

I am so happy she's back. I was getting tired of slagging on Jim Walmsley.

You all are really slipping -- this thread is in its second page and no one has identified the shoes she was wearing. Vaporfly 4%, or not?

Just Training Through wrote:

You all are really slipping -- this thread is in its second page and no one has identified the shoes she was wearing. Vaporfly 4%, or not?

Look more like the flynit. Is she doing the peach tree 10k?

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Does anyone know who holds the course record there?

This is a great question. I presume the NYRR must have a historian of some sort on payroll or there’s somebody who’s been around forever at NYAC that knows the records.

I’m honestly surprised there’s not a well kept list somewhere of top 10 times from each Central Park course. Or I haven’t looked hard enough.

Great to hear! Give it your best and have fun Mary!