That was a good one!

Should have made that clear. She said when we stopped recording that he is still coaching her, but she's in such early stages with her workouts now, she's doing them on her own. When she is ready, she'll call him.

Right. But when I learned last summer that Mike Smith was going to Nike, the word then was that all his athletes with other brands could be grandfathered in. I'm not sure he or any of the athletes were clear at that time that it was only for the life of their current contract. It's kind of a mystery

Nikki is a fantastic runner, accustomed to working independently. No one around them doubts they'll continue to be great. And Juli is an excellent coach. But the way this all developed has felt like best-case scenario, a misunderstanding. Worst-case scenario, kind of sneaky.

there was confusion about what would happen to athletes from other brands who worked with Smith. They initially thought "grandfathered in" meant grandfathered in indefinitely. I learned in Dec. that it meant only for the life of their current contract. Nike confirmed that this month. (2/3 oops)

I went through a year of whatever I felt like every morning-- and now I'm back to aisle. I bet wordle could track the national mood with this data.

She announced in December her time with Hoka has "come to a close."