Mary Cain 9:23 3k season opener. Is this a good or bad sign??

This is not encouraging. In fact, quite the opposite. I'm afraid these Mary Cain threads are going to be few and far between in the future.

I don't think the Mary Cain threads will ever slow down, no matter how much she herself continues to slow down. She's a Salazar athlete and was once heralded as a future 3:53 runner. Nobody will let it die.

Poor kid. Must be a huge hit to the ego, just 2 or 3 years ago having her name everywhere, and now this. Good thing she's smart and charismatic.

OversizedTrack wrote:

Good thing she's smart and charismatic.

I just looked at her website, FB and Twitter ( the two social media platforms she promotes on her website). Nothing updated since a short Merry Christmas post on FB. Her website and twitter haven't seen any updates since Oct 2015.

If you're a professional athlete, or hoping that you'll be able to ride your past laurels to appearances at expos and such, you need to keep in touch with whatever fan base you have/had.

I really want to like the kid, feel bad that her frosh year obviously did not work out how she probably hoped, but if you want people to support your future, whatever it is, a few quick fb/twitter updates are pretty much the minimal effort acceptable.

malmo wrote:

A dumb thread no matter how you slice it. If I were coaching her I'd much rather see a 9:20 in January than a 9:00.

A 9:20 in May, then I'd be worried.

Can't agree with you on this one my man.

She should be able to run 9:15 in her sleep assuming she's to be considered amongst the elite and likely Olympic contenders. The 3:02 opener indicates she was looking for something quick enough to get her a qualifier for indoor Worlds.

Maybe she's been sick, hurt or something else not mentioned but this is not a good sign.

NYCguy wrote:

jjjjjj wrote:

The Armory track right there in the Bronx has plenty of open hours...

I haven't been uptown for a few days, but I'm pretty sure the Armory is still in Manhattan.

Right you are and here I haven't lived in NYC for 8 years. All I remembered was that it was a long way to jog back from the Armory to CP. At any rate, the Armory's not all that far from where she lives so she has that track.

It wasn't a good sign but it may simply be no sign at all. Her entry into the "race" was not publicized beforehand. She wasn't running against competition. There was no pacer. I doubt that she or her coaches were expecting or necessarily going for a fast time.

It was a rust buster getting used to the track and there was no positive surprise. We won't really know anything until she enters a competitive race.

TrackCoach wrote:

re: "Al Sal changed her form and while it may look better in real-time, she actually looked better as a freshman and sophomore if you watch in slow-motion. She's a lot tighter now, where she used to be much more elastic."

You are about as wrong as a left shoe on a right foot. Basically what you are saying is all of the NOP form work was a waste, in fact you are saying she had better form when she was 14/15 yo. I bet you also think Mary would have been better off staying with her high school coach.

Yes, nice reading comprehension. That is exactly what I was saying about her form. I've never spoken with her high school coach about training and don't know how they connected on a personal level so can't comment on whether that was an ideal move.

All I'm saying is she ran like a wild animal when she was a freshman and sophomore. Now she runs like a caged animal, constricted by the confines of her mentors perception of what good form is. She runs like a robot now. Great athletes move like dancers. She's lost that spirit.

"Great athletes move like dancers"

Couldn't have said it better! What a beautiful description and it's so true. That's also why watching a great performance is a lovely sight to behold.

Allie Ostrander 15:21 5000, equivalent to sub 9:00

Wesley Frazier 9:01

Alexa Efraimson 4:34 Mile, equivalent to roughly 9:05

Weini Kelati 9:19.99

Mary Cain 9:23

Any other significant season openers to compare to?

Mrs. Cena wrote:

Allie Ostrander 15:21 5000, equivalent to sub 9:00

Wesley Frazier 9:01

Alexa Efraimson 4:34 Mile, equivalent to roughly 9:05

Weini Kelati 9:19.99

Mary Cain 9:23

Any other significant season openers to compare to?

Granted, but it's January. This was a rust buster in a low key meet. She is preparing for Rio...

+1

That time by Allie is equivalent to an 8:44, helluva nice race. Now, does she have those kinds of wheels? Not sure.

The McMillan app shows Alexa's 4:34 equal to 9:01, not a bad opener.

Solid post! The elasticity is an important element, but change takes time. Mary may bounce back better than ever, but one thing is for sure, "I hope she doesn't listen to the haters.

Good Luck Mary!

Yeah, she can still turn things around. It's going to take more "fork control" than anything. Sometimes we lose our way and it makes rediscovering ourself worth it.