Mary Cain Is Taking a Break from the Nike Oregon Project

good post wrote:

Follow up question--do you have info on whether she's unhappy with the current situation (other than not running well this year)? And on the other side of the coin, them not happy with her?

Other than what I'm hearing...No. She sure as hell doesn't seem happy with running anymore.

Wow you really are not a fan of Alberto.

I was gonna call you out on the SOM plug, but really I agree with you. If you look back at her a couple years ago when she was tearing it up, she was having a blast and loving running. If she can get that back, I'm sure the rest will come.

It's really not that hard to figure out. You're driving down a country road on a dark and stormy night. Your car breaks down. You look around and see a farmhouse a few hundred yards away with a light on. Thinking it's your best chance to get help, you cross a field to the house. You knock. Nothing. The creaky door is ajar so you push it open, and hear some footsteps upstairs, so you head towards the stairway. More noise upstairs. Spooky lightning flashes. As you start up the creaky stairs you notice something glistening on the walls. Looking closer you realize it's blood -- seeping from the seams of the wallpaper.

Now what do you do? Do you continue up the stairs, or do you turn around and run like hell?

peekay wrote:

Wow you really are not a fan of Alberto.

Alberto has a much different approach than i would have. He is also very much aware of his anger problem, which he talked about with me, and apparently discussed in his book 14 Minutes. However, if I were in charge at Nike he would have been fired on the spot for what he did at Nationals a year ago. But he has immunity at Nike.

malmo wrote:

It's really not that hard to figure out. You're driving down a country road on a dark and stormy night. Your car breaks down. You look around and see a farmhouse a few hundred yards away with a light on. Thinking it's your best chance to get help, you cross a field to the house. You knock. Nothing. The creaky door is ajar so you push it open, and hear some footsteps upstairs, so you head towards the stairway. More noise upstairs. Spooky lightning flashes. As you start up the creaky stairs you notice something glistening on the walls. Looking closer you realize it's blood -- seeping from the seams of the wallpaper.

Now what do you do? Do you continue up the stairs, or do you turn around and run like hell?

Holy extended metaphors, Batman!

Is this real running or metaphorical running? And is the blood real?

agip wrote:

Holy extended metaphors, Batman!

Yeaah, I like the whip the "dark and stormy night" dead horse metaphor a lot!

malmo wrote:

It's really not that hard to figure out. You're driving down a country road on a dark and stormy night. Your car breaks down. You look around and see a farmhouse a few hundred yards away with a light on. Thinking it's your best chance to get help, you cross a field to the house. You knock. Nothing. The creaky door is ajar so you push it open, and hear some footsteps upstairs, so you head towards the stairway. More noise upstairs. Spooky lightning flashes. As you start up the creaky stairs you notice something glistening on the walls. Looking closer you realize it's blood -- seeping from the seams of the wallpaper.

Now what do you do? Do you continue up the stairs, or do you turn around and run like hell?

REDRUM!

I'd run outside and find refuge in the hedge maze out on the cold winter's night. Undoubtedly, I'd come upon the caretaker, who would offer these words of comfort, "Some places are like people: some shine and some don't."

NOP just posted an update

http://nikeoregonproject.com/blogs/news/29949761-mary-cain-update

She was probably really homesick. First year away can do that to a lot of people.

good post wrote:

Mary Cain will figure it out, and hopefully she'll stay far away from NOP. It is an unhealthy situation. The last thing any young athlete needs is a coach yelling in her ear about her arms, or her footstrike, or her this, or that, and other thing. Having a coach who picks fights with other coaches at competitions is unacceptable at any level. Cain can do better. She needs to surround herself with the people who care for her, not the ones who want something from her.

She needs to smile again.

This. Especially the part about needing to surround herself with people who care for her, not the ones who want something from her.

Well that escalated quickly.

"Mary continues to be coached by Alberto Salazar and is a member of the Nike Oregon Project."

This means she is under contract and other coaches must keep their hands off. Nike will not let her go. Maybe they will allow her to use a different coach than Salazar on the Nike payroll.

Was that press release written by a robot? Why doesn't Mary say something in interviews?

Meaning this... wrote:

"Mary continues to be coached by Alberto Salazar and is a member of the Nike Oregon Project."

This means she is under contract and other coaches must keep their hands off. Nike will not let her go. Maybe they will allow her to use a different coach than Salazar on the Nike payroll.

Gotta love vague press releases. If Nike has the stronghold on her then yeah, could she just go to another Nike coach? Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Tara Erdmann do that? Or maybe she was dropped by Nike completely, idk?

malmo wrote:

I agree. Mary Cain will figure it out, and hopefully she'll stay far away from NOP. It is an unhealthy situation. The last thing any young athlete needs is a coach yelling in her ear about her arms, or her footstrike, or her this, or that, and other thing. Having a coach who picks fights with other coaches at competitions is unacceptable at any level. Cain can do better. She needs to surround herself with the people who care for her, not the ones who want something from her.

Good post malmo, I esp. agree with this part. Salazar wants medals, period. He is very open about it.

4runner wrote:

Do any of you even remember what the transition from HS running to college running was like?

Welcome to morning practice, weight and flexibility work, mile repeats where the best kids on the team are running your HS PR again and again. Being so tired that you can't even sleep at nights because your own heartbeat is keeping you awake. The drunks on your floor waking you up at 3 AM. Not eating vegetables because the cafeteria food sucks.

Oh-- by the way-- she skipped college running and moved straight to the pros.

Give her time, lads. She'll figure this out.

So why mention college running?

She already successfully transitioned to being a Pro and now she's slipping.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

Well that escalated quickly.

Her weight?

update from NOP wrote:

NOP just posted an update

http://nikeoregonproject.com/blogs/news/29949761-mary-cain-update

That is the most generic press release I have ever read.

I guess at least it still implies that she will be trying to race more this season

She is 18, and sometimes 18-year-olds don't always do what the rest of us think they should. My son just finished up his freshman year running at a DIII school. In a two-month period he gave up running during indoor and wanted to quit school, to wanting to transfer to a school closer to his girlfriend (she goes to school 5 hours away) and still not run, to rejoining the team, having a decent outdoor season and loving school. Not to mention he got the best grades he ever has during the spring semester. I can only imagine doing all of that while you are 2,500 miles from home and trying to run professionally. I'm sure it's a tough adjustment, and truthfully given they have their hands in the lives of professional athletes in all sports, Nike/NOP/Salazar probably weren't caught off guard because of it.