Track and Field Blogs - Patrick Rizzo

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been obsessed with the desert. I remember watching the Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons and asking my dad if that was a real place when the Coyote fell off of a mountain bluff (presumably in Sedona). Last year was the first time I actually went to the desert. After Boston, I got ahold of some friends that live in Phoenix and we agreed that it was time to pay them a visit, so I got a plane ticket and left on one 30* May morning from Detroit and set out to Phoenix, where it was 101* when I landed.

Now I've always called BS when people say, "but it's a dry heat." Now I understand. I arrived in my personal corner of heaven wearing blue jeans, a sweatshirt, and a Wanganui jacket...and I was perfectly comfortable until I got to my friend's house to change.

Sometimes when you fantasize about something, by the time it comes to be, it's upsettingly inaccurate from what your original expectations were. This was not my case. The day I left, we went to Sedona, to REAL Arizona as a friend put it. It was EVERYTHING I ever dreamed of and more. There was no crushed hopes in this trip through the desert and it still remains the only time I've gone for a run and seen a "beware of Gila monsters" sign or a "Stay on trail; rattlesnakes may strike when approached" sign. This may not seem like everyone's fantasy destination, but let me say that it was the trip I've wanted to take since I was about 5 years old.

Still as great as the desert is, I find myself waking up in the morning to another 5 inches of snow today and a temperature under 20 for about the 100th day in a row. Why, some might ask, do I remain in Michigan if I was that mystified by the desert? There's still something about the Midwest that's home. Sure, I hate the weather, I nag about it all the time. There are only two seasons and the summers are swampy, the winters are frigid, and I am fully convinced that the entire state of Michigan does not have one snowplow at its disposal. Still, my family is nearby; my friends are all close; and most importantly, I have a great group of guys that challenges me every day while keeping my ego in check all the while.

Will I ever move to the desert? Who knows. For now I'm going to be making annual trips though to keep the passion fresh and to stay in touch with my friends that are out there. Regardless if I ever establish myself there or in any other place on earth, Illinois is always going to be the land I call home, Schaumburg to be specific.