Natosha Rogers of Texas A&M decides to quit the sport.

Philogyny wrote:

So we have one story where she is hurt and sick, another where she is apparently healthy but can't deal with the travel demands of track. Which is it?

They are both correct to a degree. She WAS hurt for a while and is coming off that currently. But while she was hurt she realized that the sport is not what makes her happy anymore. So the injury ultimately led to her decision in a way. She will be back soon. Guarantee it. She loves it deep down. She just needs a break.

A friend of mine is on A&M's XC team and they basically corroborated what everyone else (who claims to be on the team) has been saying. What I heard was that she had been injured and couldn't seem to get healthy and essentially just got sick of running and decided to quit the sport entirely. She just didn't want it anymore.

We'll see her in the WNFL soon. There is one, right?

McQuarters wrote:

Sounds kind of rash and maybe after chilling out for a while things will change? Some decisions are final...others aren't.

Does she have any CC eligibility left?

If the answer is yes I can think of one NEngland team which is a scorer away from an NCAA title.

A rash decision by a college age female! NEVER!!

Friend on the team wrote:

A friend of mine is on A&M's XC team and they basically corroborated what everyone else (who claims to be on the team) has been saying. What I heard was that she had been injured and couldn't seem to get healthy and essentially just got sick of running and decided to quit the sport entirely. She just didn't want it anymore.

This is all part of the great vetting process that is distance running.

Some people have talent but $hit it away either due to indifference, partying, whatever.

Others have no talent but work to complete obsessiveness to maximize the little bit they have.

At times the two meet and we end up with Galen Rupp, Bill Rodgers, AlSal, etc..

Given just how little the sport can provide economically, and given that she has had a fine collegiate career with both team and individual accomplishments to cherish, I think her decision is sensible. I thought running seriously made sense at the high school level (this was over 30 years ago). I didn't really think it made sense at the college level (I was a very good student), but having run 4:08 in high school and having come from a single mother background with little money, the scholarship track route appeared justifiable. By my senior year - having recognized internships not taken, courses dodged because of running and travel demands - I clearly had a different view and wished I had spent more time and resource finding a way to attend school in a way other than on athletic scholarship. I caught up academically in graduate school and did very well, but again, I question the mindset of Division 1 athletics, at least for very serious students (and I recognize some athletes are not serious students). I support this woman's decision.

Runners get burned out. Their priorities can change.

If she is quitting the sport then good luck to her whatever she does next. She will be missed. Her performances at NCAAs and the trials last year were the highlights of those meets.

Those of you who say she is "juiced" and don't know one bit of the type of training or person she is just need to stop.

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5077316&page=1#ixzz2MsDKCB1f

Please realize that anyone who said she was juiced is an anonymous coward. If they had to identify themselves and then accuse her to her face- well, let's just say you'd have a hard time getting them out of mommie's basement to actually come out in public.

I hope she returns to the sport.

More power to her. If she is not enjoying what she is doing, why waste her time? Life has more to offer than being good at running. To go from one of the best in the US at the 10k to injured must be frustrating. That combined with being far away from her family, and missing out on many college experiences because of the responsibility of being a D1 athlete. I empathize with her.

Sounds as though she is making a solid personal decision for herself.

ever heard of something called "burnout"?

I tried my hand at college T & F (800) , after 2 years I couldnt take it anymore and just quit. I wanted nothing to do with running for the next 5.

after months of brutal morning workouts I decided I honestly didnt give a **** how fast I could run 2 laps.

Not sure of the facts here. Is there an undercurrent in this discussion that says college coaches may have a conflict of interest in making decisions about athletes health?

chinal wrote:

ever heard of something called "burnout"?

I tried my hand at college T & F (800) , after 2 years I couldnt take it anymore and just quit. I wanted nothing to do with running for the next 5.

after months of brutal morning workouts I decided I honestly didnt give a **** how fast I could run 2 laps.

Absolutely. Some can handle it, some can't. I ran 4 years of college track and cross country, and i'm still running daily 5 years later and loving every minute of it.

my mommy sez wrote:

she's a sr at this point in time. only 5 months to graduation. better to quit a team run by dipshits than ruin your chances for grad school.

Graduation is May 8th. That is TWO months away. March, April.

I don't care what she does with running or school, but I am not understanding your assertion that something she does with running in the next 8 weeks would "ruin your chances for grad school".

Please explain?

The Natosha Rogers situation is another reason why Indoor Track is a joke. Idiot coaches think its perfectly normal for a distance runner to go through a full cross country season during the fall. Then, its a few weeks off before another two months of Indoor track season. And finally its on to outdoor track season after a one week break from the Indoor season. And you wonder why so little is left in the tank when it comes to the dog days of late May and early June for distance runners.

She's long past having anything to gain from Texas A and M aside from her college degree. Burnout is a massive problem in NCAA (I've seen this for decades as a post-collegiate coach) but that really isn't the problem here. This is a kid putting her health and long-term opportunity above relatively meaningless competition at level she has already dominated. Pushing her too hard, too fast for something that in truth matters little to zero is not the way to bring her back from injury. Standing up for herself and saying no is a sign of mental health, not rashness.

She is smart, how can you compete in such a dirty sport anyway? if you don't do drugs how will you ever beat those at he top that do drugs? she would always be at a disadvantage. so why bother..

sadly, starting to believe this myself. I'm sure she will return at some point, sometimes just taking off a break from the regime of workouts, longs run, and competition will do a body good. I could never fully quit running. It always seemed to be part of what I did, but it was refreshing to not be controlled by the process of it all.