Track and Field Blogs - Patrick Rizzo

Since Boston ended, I knew that a "speed segment" would come to follow it. I knew that I would need to work on getting more comfortable in faster paces before I try to run those faster paces in a marathon. Now, although I am not shooting to qualify for the trials 10,000 or anything on the track, I need to get some sharper tools in my box again. Heck, a lot of my current teammates probably believe that I'm pretty darn slow given how I've run since coming here...but I am not convinced of it.
Back when I was just a young buck from Schaumburg High School chasing guys like Jorge and Ed Torres from Wheeling High School, I got a taste of what it's like not to respect the status quo. As a sophomore, I followed 2 seniors on the team to try to chase down "the unbeatable Torreses" in the conference meet out at Deer Grove Forest Preserve. Although we lost the individual battle (finishing 3-5-8), we wound up beating the Wheeling team who would later take the state title. We would have to be the bridesmaids that year, but we were never going to believe that we would lose before the gun went off. I credit those guys being so good with why I ran 9:18 and 4:26 in one track meet senior year. I didn't ever win a conference meet with those times--or even finish top 5 in track for that matter--but I never took on a mentality of accepting someone as better before we all crossed the finish line.
Think about it. If we were all to just accept the status quo, why would I bust my butt every day trying to get better only to lose to the same people by the same margins?
That said, I will say that this training segment is starting off very strong for me. I recharged my emotional battery by going to Phoenix to visit some friends and running (in shorts and no shirt with 95* temperatures) up different parts of South Mountain every day. That trip got cut short with some bad news back home and I had to fly to Chicago last-minute for my grandma's funeral. My runs weren't great in Chicago as I had to go at either 5:00 AM or at 11:00 PM each day to plan around arrangements and family things, but I made it work.
Coming back to Rochester Hills now, I ran with my teammates for the first time since late March when Nick and I left for Florida pre-Boston. Although I didn't miss certain things about Michigan while I was gone--the perpetually cloudy sky, Michigan drivers (specifically ones that hit me), freezing cold mornings year round, or the smell of Driftwood house--I definitely missed having my teammates to train with though. My mission of recharging my emotions worked. We've already started workouts and I've been able to run "fast" more comfortably than I have since those days of wearing the red and gold Schaumburg jersey that now hangs on my wall at Driftwood. I'm very optimistic about my upcoming training and racing. Still, only time will tell and results won't lie. Let's see if I can find speed legs again.