Mary Cain sighting. Cain returns to action for 1st time since May. Finishes 33rd at Club Nats - 1 minute behind Tuohy

donairs wrote:

It is always difficult for an athlete to hold back and let the body heal. New coach, new approach. Obviously the talent and desire to run fast, is there.

that's the issue. whatever damage her body has sustained cannot be reversed. she will always be able to get into decent shape(which for her is top fitness for most) but for her just basic fitness. She will be fooled by this because she will be able to compete at a sub elite level by simply jogging 6 days a week. However if she tries to "train" I mean by doing anything more than jogging, (like hill repeats, strides, intervals, tempos, whatever) she will be injured within a month. there will be no amount of healing time, she will never be able to train hard again.

...IMHO

When it comes to her running career, I feel like all that Mary Cain really needs is to get back into regular racing. She seems like she doesn’t want to fully return to the scene until she is in national class form again, but life doesn’t work like that. Racing some 16:xx 5ks is going to be unpleasant at first, but it’s the only way back to 15:xx and beyond. Racing needs to be fun. Racing needs to be second nature.

This is a good sign, but I would love to see her racing every couple weeks or so for a time even if it means dropping some stinkers. Her mind seems stuck in a “win, win, win” mentality when she needs to simply “compete, compete, compete” and gain some experience after all of these layoffs. That being said, it is awesome that she stayed in the race after blowing up trying to win. The heart is still there!

I could really see her benefitting training with someone like Brenda Martinez. Their racing styles are really similar.

Nynj or Philadelphia is a better choice.

Definitely should not train with Brenda. Brenda has had a lot of injury issues in the past few years. Boris Berian was also broken under that program. Any of the other sub-elites in that group really struggled as well.

Anyone I know in New York who saw her running these past few years said she is done. The cold hard fact is she matured and her body changed and is a bust as a pro runner. This happens often to women as they mature. I just wished she accepted this fact and didn't play the blame game.

You are obviously very concerned. Your place is under a bridge.

A woman's place is on the track. Some talented mature women can run very fast. Some don't, and that is fine too. Same with men.

Your mom says it's time to get off the computer and do your homework.

NoBigBear wrote:

Definitely should not train with Brenda. Brenda has had a lot of injury issues in the past few years. Boris Berian was also broken under that program. Any of the other sub-elites in that group really struggled as well.

Brenda seems to post up heroic workouts followed by injuries or mediocre races. She had a decent career considering what seems to be sub-par coaching.

Mary shouldn't train with Brenda unless she wants to fall during every workout

ghhyyy wrote:

Just saw a picture of her from the race - looks like she was wearing adidas gear - not a swoosh in sight, from what I could see.

I could be wrong - I'm not up to date on what nike gear can look like,

her shorts look generic, don't think they're from nike because nike spandex always has the band, don't see a logo either, maybe off brand or from lululemon?

Googled cheetah crop top and found this. It looks exactly like what she was wearing. I wonder if she's sponsored by them? They have a picture of Emma Abrahamson up

YMMV wrote:

Brenda seems to post up heroic workouts followed by injuries or mediocre races. She had a decent career considering what seems to be sub-par coaching.

Are you calling Joe Vigil a subpar coach? Don't know if he is still coaching her.

YMMV wrote:

Brenda had a decent career

First American woman to medal at world championship 800 and Olympian in the 1500

Little better than decent considering the main running groups at the time turned her away.

Are you calling Joe Vigil a subpar coach? Don't know if he is still coaching her.

I am glad you said this because I thought wasn't Coach Vigil involved with Brenda for a while? You can call him many things but “sub-par” he will never be. He is one of the classiest and most knowledge guys in the game....

Mary would truly benefit from him as a coach but sadly I don't think he is in the game any longer but I could be wrong?!

PwacTwac wrote:

Are you calling Joe Vigil a subpar coach? Don't know if he is still coaching her.

I am glad you said this because I thought wasn't Coach Vigil involved with Brenda for a while? You can call him many things but “sub-par” he will never be. He is one of the classiest and most knowledge guys in the game....

Mary would truly benefit from him as a coach but sadly I don't think he is in the game any longer but I could be wrong?!

My impression is that Joe was pretty involved in the early years and then handed it off to Carlos. They are pretty under the radar so I only have an outline. Brenda has been a great athlete and Joe is legend, no dis. I guess I was looking for more from her to develop but she had a solid career in a tough game (especially considering the state of the women's 800 the past few cycles.) She should have more medals than she got but she earned the ones she did. Tough as nails.

Eh, so easy to tear someone down. 33rd ain't too shabby for just coming back. Go Mary!

Always had poor biomechanics, though Salazar improved them. Strength to weight ratio worked well for her in her teens. Now? Not so much. It is what it is though. She had a great run while it lasted for her and should be congratulated for that. The magic isn't coming back though.

Sounds like she is all ready to go pro again. I am sure every major shoe company is reaching out with contracts right now

female fashion expert wrote:

ghhyyy wrote:

Just saw a picture of her from the race - looks like she was wearing adidas gear - not a swoosh in sight, from what I could see.

I could be wrong - I'm not up to date on what nike gear can look like,

her shorts look generic, don't think they're from nike because nike spandex always has the band, don't see a logo either, maybe off brand or from lululemon?

Googled cheetah crop top and found this. It looks exactly like what she was wearing. I wonder if she's sponsored by them? They have a picture of Emma Abrahamson up

She was wearing this New Balance top during the race and I saw a picture of her in an NB long sleeve before the race. It did seem like her shoes were Adidas during the race so my guess is she is unsponsored.