WindyCityRunning reportsIt’s been a long road for former Schaumburg High School standout Pat Rizzo, but he’s making one more move, hoping this one allows him to take one or two more steps towards his ultimate running goals. At Schaumburg, Rizzo was a multiple all-state runner, who then took his talents to North Central College and racked up multiple all-American honors. From there, Rizzo jumped over to Michigan, competing for the Hansons-Brooks squad, while improving his marathon personal best to 2:15:48 at the Chicago Marathon this past October.
Since then, Rizzo has packed up his bags, looking for a change of scenery. With Olympic-sized dreams, Rizzo now finds himself in Boulder, Colorado. We caught up with Rizzo earlier this month, where he talks in detail about his move to Boulder (while leaving the Hansons-Brooks program), his transition from a college runner to a professional runner and much more.
Catching Up with Pat Rizz0
Windy City Running (WCR): Lets talk about the big move that few people are aware of currently. You’ve decided to part ways with the Hansons-Brooks group and move out west. Could you talk to us about that decision and how you came to it?
Pat Rizzo (PR): I decided earlier this year on a trip home that things were not all rosy in Michigan. I was on a run with some college teammates and one asked me when I got so negative. It was a huge wakeup call and I spent several months trying to reconcile the problem before coming to the conclusion that things could not improve without me moving out of Michigan. I realized that a lot of the negativity and cynicism was stemming from the car accident (term used loosely: a car hit me while I was running) that left me out of most of the 2008 racing season. There was nothing I could do, short of leaving, that was going to improve my opinion of Michigan after the process following that incident.
Another huge element came down to timing. We are, right now, two years out from an Olympic year again. I have always wanted to move to the West and I have always wanted to live at altitude. Most people would agree that it takes about a year before a person can really know if altitude is working for them. This gives me enough time to come down and readjust if it does not work for me, or a whole year to continue benefiting from it if it does work.
A third element is change. I have been training the same general way for almost four years while with Hansons. I felt like I was getting stale with what I was doing. I have not run track since college and have not really taken a stab at lowering some of my PRs in as long. I think there have been a few brief periods where we (Kevin and Keith Hansons and me) have felt I could go run a 28:50 or so given the opportunity, but we never really felt the need given our racing goals longer term. Now I am wanting to get some of those PRs out in the open and when I pop back into my next marathon, be more prepared to be “in it” when I run it.
WCR: With an eye on Colorado, do you have any firm plans yet as to who you’ll be training with, where you’ll be living, who’ll be coaching you, sponsorship, etc.?
PR: I have some ideas on who I want to train with. I actually have a meeting scheduled with another local, Ed Torres, this week to get some input from his experiences out there and any feedback he may have on stuff as well. He is back in Wheeling for a while and I would be an idiot for not tapping into his knowledge and experience, as we are both working toward the same ultimate goals, to be out best.
My living situation in kind of interesting. A friend of mine in Michigan has a high school friend in Boulder who is a pro triathlete looking for a roommate. The other person in their house knows one of my other Hansons teammates from high school as well, though from a different state across the country. It is a small world and this just collided a lot of our small social networks into one.
As for sponsorship, I have nothing definite yet, but I am talking to people in a few directions right now. I will continue representing Brooks indefinitely or until I have another contract. They have been incredibly loyal to me and the other athletes who have gone through the Hansons’ program, so continuing to wear Brooks and represent Brooks is the least I can do to return the favor. That said, I have to make sure that that will not create any conflicts of interest with any person or group I will be training with out in Colorado. The last thing I would want to do is step on any feet or burn any bridges. I’ve had nothing but great experiences with everyone I have worked with up to this point and want to keep it that way.
WCR: How do you feel you’ve changed as an athlete over the past few years, as you’ve made the transition from a star DIII athlete to a rising-star professional athlete?
PR: One very important lesson that my brother taught me when I was still wrestling was never to give up a match based on what someone else had done in the past. I apply this to my running just as much as I did on the mat. My brother went on to be a 1:50 half miler and 2 x DIII runner-up in the 800m (12 x All-American) and raced with this same mentality and approach. Anyone who wanted to beat him had to earn it. I admired that and as much different as we became as athletes–him in the 800 and me in the marathon–he continues still to be a great teacher when it comes to running.
The reason why I have to introduce it like that is because he is a large reason I continued to progress after college. When I was in high school, he acted as a “filter” in the recruiting process, always looking out for me when I was being recruited. After college, I had a “real job” and hated it. I told my brother, Tony, that I wanted to continue running and quit work and he told me to do it. His advice was that I would have to move away from Naperville, where I went to college, if I ever wanted to “leave” college running.
Although I still have a fantastic relationship with my college coach and teammates, Tony was ultimately right. I needed to surround myself with people who look at a 29:38 PR for a 10k and do not flinch. I also needed to find someone who knew better than me how to train for a marathon. That led me to Hansons, where I spent almost four years before leaving this month.
I think the key to my always moving forward has been always surrounding myself with forward-looking people. In high school, Jim Macnider would let me be satisfied with a performance all the way until the next day’s practice. Al Carius was the same way in college; Al hates complacency. Now, I am searching for that next level and striving not to plateau anywhere along the way.
WCR: Chicago was obviously a good day for you, finishing in the top ten and running as the second American in the field, while achieving a new PR. What have you been up to since then?
PR: It is hard to say that Chicago was a bad day, but I definitely did not consider it a good day. We’ll put it that way. I thought going in that I was 100% ready on the right day to hit 2:13 high. And sure enough, waking up that morning, it WAS the right day. I felt fine all the way until the gun went off. My legs just were not finding the rhythm that I usually thrive off of. It felt more like running a 26 x mile repeat than it did a marathon. I can not pinpoint what made my legs feel like that, which is the only real frustrating part, but still it was a PR and I have to take it.
Since then, I moved back to Schaumburg to spend the holidays with my family before heading out to Boulder for the next chapter of “the grand experiment” as I call it.
I have also been very aggressively treating my plantar fasciitis that has plagued me since about January (of 2009). I sleep with the Strassburg Sock every night and have a golf ball under my computer desk to grind my arch out on whenever I am otherwise idle. It really sucks to say the least. Right now, my right plantar fascia is tearing off of the heel bone, so it goes without saying that running is pretty painful. Still, I would rather live with the pain than not run. Running is my one bit of sanity in life.
WCR: Any idea on when your next race will be?
PR: I will be running a 30k in Tokyo, Japan that is a sister cities race to the Boston Marathon. They have an athlete exchange program that I am traveling on behalf of in February. After that, I plan to lay low for a while and make the adjustment to a new atmosphere, coach, training, and lifestyle.
I am thinking that I will run some shorter stuff most of the spring and summer, then gear up for a fall marathon. I am not sure which yet. Chicago is always awesome; New York is a World Marathon Major and a course I have not run yet; and Twin Cities is the US Championships next year. Who knows? I guess I have time to decide on that small detail.
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