New Mary Cain Video: NOP "really wasn't a good fit for me." Plus "Our sport is every other sport's punishment...."

It's almost like it's a bad idea to drop a HS kid into a high-pressure professional environment with a bunch of adults that are 10+ years older than her.

[quote]LetsRun.com wrote:

She also a Winnie the Pooh quote that talks about not worrying about the past or future and ends, "The past is history, the future is a mystery and the present is a gift - that's why they call it the present. And I think there is such truth to that."

[quote]LetsRun.com wrote:

That's an oogway quote from the og kung fu panda.

MM3307 wrote:

It's almost like it's a bad idea to drop a HS kid into a high-pressure professional environment with a bunch of adults that are 10+ years older than her.

No idea why her parents thought this was her best option. Did they get a cut of the Nike contract?

Hindsight has a way of making every difficult decision look obvious.

She made a decision to work with one of the best coaches in the world, in an environment where she would have access to all the best facilities, experienced teammates, and the luxury of being able to focus on running without coursework. It's easy to understand why she and her family made the decision they did to work with Salazar. It's unfortunate that it wasn't the best situation for her, but that wouldn't have been obvious at the time.

Best of luck to her! Looking forward to seeing what she can do if she stays healthy.

I know what the kung fu panda is, but what context does it relate to Mary Cain? Did she reference it earlier?

Either her parents didn't know her well or they had reason to be indifferent.

Paul Bunyan wrote:

Hindsight has a way of making every difficult decision look obvious.

She made a decision to work with one of the best coaches in the world, in an environment where she would have access to all the best facilities, experienced teammates, and the luxury of being able to focus on running without coursework. It's easy to understand why she and her family made the decision they did to work with Salazar. It's unfortunate that it wasn't the best situation for her, but that wouldn't have been obvious at the time.

Best of luck to her! Looking forward to seeing what she can do if she stays healthy.

As a parent who's youngest is around the same age as Ms. Cain, I would have hesitated putting a child of that age in the social situation she was placed in. Her parents either chose to ignore this or were clueless as far as teenagers and a need for a solid support group of peers. The "luxury" referenced above was more of a burden than anything else.

Mary Cain is not an elite.

Sure, racing in a 3 yo kit.

She was enrolled in college and training with the NOP. She was in a much safer environment then most US freshman are when starting on a DI team.

I never was and never will be an "elite" runner. But I disagree wholeheartedly with the mindset that running = injury. Bad training, bad recovery, and a whole bunch of other bad practices = injury. I hope she gets down to the root of what's causing her issues, gets healthy and has a long career. No reason that she can't run competitively into her 30s and beyond.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Bob schul country wrote:

She runs like a 60 year old in that video. She is washed up.

The video seems to clear up the issues; that rather than a significant change in physiology, the problem has been being constantly injured. She looks to be still favoring her left leg in the video. Definitely not a heel-striker.

Physiological changes are definitely part of the issues she's had to deal with.

bleu wrote:

She was enrolled in college and training with the NOP. She was in a much safer environment then most US freshman are when starting on a DI team.

Missing the point completely

A Shank wrote:

I never was and never will be an "elite" runner. But I disagree wholeheartedly with the mindset that running = injury. Bad training, bad recovery, and a whole bunch of other bad practices = injury. I hope she gets down to the root of what's causing her issues, gets healthy and has a long career. No reason that she can't run competitively into her 30s and beyond.

+1

I ran thousands of road miles, did scores of brutal track interval workouts, weight room work and came out of it unscathed because I have good running form and am overall built for it.

I don't understand why attending Portland State and training with NOP would be any different than running for a D1 school. If I had been good enough to compete at a world class level at her age, I would have been loving life.

Then I can’t help you. You never ran D1.

bleu wrote:

Then I can’t help you. You never ran D1.

And you've never had the responsibility and perspective of being an effective parent.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

I don't understand why attending Portland State and training with NOP would be any different than running for a D1 school. If I had been good enough to compete at a world class level at her age, I would have been loving life.

I'm guessing that she had to revolve her classes around NOP workouts and had little time to get involved in anything on campus or meet anyone. On a D1 team, you have a built in social network of teammates who have the same schedule as you do.

So from a running standpoint it's ideal but at 18, no social network is tough.

I know I will get ragged on for saying this but her personality is what makes her golden. She could have easily become the next Jordan Hasay but even with all the publicity and offers she sees through the facade of competition at the highest levels. The money, the medals, etc. it's all a myth. This is no Alexi Pappas people, if Mary Cain wanted to she could make an Olympic team in something with consistency being her only lucky chip in the process. So long as Mary Cain enjoys life I hope she does whatever she wants even if she runs only a so-so half marathon and puts a 13.2 sticker on her bumper. The monotonous and almost robotic Jordan Hasay could never just be herself like Mary Cain. Jordan Hasay runs for everybody else. Not even sure Hasay knows who she really is.