Quotes from Mary Cain

One thing I struggle with is competing, being in a pack, running with a lot of bodies.

It's nice in that I have my track life and I have my school life, and so far I've been balancing them really well.

I feel like athletes lean into this indestructible character. But unless you're doing something really shady, no one nails every day of their life. You're always going to have rough patches.

I love the sport of track and field. If I can be the person to make it a big thing in this country, that would be amazing.

I'm not one of those people who is scared, like, 'Ooooh, I'm going to burn out.'

My attitude is, especially in New York, we have some pretty brutal summers in terms of humidity. So for me, if you survive a summer of running in New York City, you get your runner badge!

Returning to running has been a really cathartic experience.

I was lucky to have friends and family who were always supportive. It didn't matter to them how I raced.

I'm used to running against the clock.

I'm definitely somebody who wants a college degree. My attitude is, if I'm going to do it I'm going to go full in.

The emotional weight being lifted just let me run free and commit to it. I have almost been able to refind a joy for running.

All of my friends and a lot of kids at school know what I do. It's really something that's a big deal in my town. So it keeps it really special when people do congratulate me.

I like that kind of weather. Constant drizzle. At the Olympic trials in 2012, my mom was, like, 'It's pouring rain out there, Mary. You shouldn't even notice it. You're Irish.'

I'm still the weirdo who enjoys taking organic chemistry.

Don't get me wrong, it's fun when you get cheers for being a little kid. But if I wanted to be babied, I would not have gone pro. I'm welcoming the idea that people will be thinking of me as Mary Cain the professional, not Mary Cain the high schooler.

Sometimes athletes are expected to lose weight over the course of the season. But usually they work with a professional nutritionist. There's not some arbitrary target that's trying to be reached. It's more go through the process - train hard, eat well.

Ultimately, I decided to go pro because that is what makes the most amount of sense for me.

Going pro out of high school maybe won't work for everybody, but I know that wherever my career goes I'm happy with the choice I made.

I have decided, and am truly excited to announce, that I will be turning pro. I believe that, in the long run, this is the best way for me continue to develop as an athlete.

That's one reason I think the 1,500 is so exciting. You have to be strong, have to be a distance runner. But in that last hundred you are going all out.

Some runners have a constant progression, but mine was very stop and start because of injuries.

We live in a society in which female weight is both fetishized and also under so much scrutiny. And so trying to shame somebody into losing weight is just such, I mean, an emotionally, psychologically and mentally traumatizing way to coach somebody.

Tracksmith came to the table with an outside-the-box opportunity to join their team as both an athlete and employee, to pursue my dreams, contribute to a team and build a career.

I don't really think of records beforehand. I don't want them to freak me out.