Pat Rizzo recently competed at the Boston Marathon with his teammates. It was the 2nd time Pat ran the Boston Marathon. This time out, Pat finished 15th in 2:17.05. Read on to find out how Pat felt his race went and what the future may hold.
RM: Your stated goal was 2:15 going into Boston. As many know, things change due to conditions on the course on the given day. What are your thoughts on running 2:17 and how did you feel about how you ran the race?
PR: I definitely missed my goal time, but I knew by about 15k that the time was out the window. My college coach used to be very against running for time. So I just shifted into college mode and thought, "I guess I am out here to compete, not to run something that's out of my control." It worked very well. I have to say that one of the things that has helped contribute to my success is the great differences between my coaches at each step of my career. I am now confident that I am prepared for virtually anything depending on how I approach any given scenario. As for how I felt about the 2:17, it was a PR, so I was happy for that. So far, I have improved most on the toughest courses(Trials-NYC, Boston). That gives me great confidence this year going into my fall marathon.
RM: How long do you think it will take you to recover from this marathon? Did you need a longer period of time to recover from the Boston Marathon last time, compared to how long it took you to recover from the trials course in NY?
PR: It's hard to gauge what really is recovered after a marathon. You might feel great the first couple of days out of the box, but can't get the legs to turn over when it's time to go hard. It may go great. It may start terrible and turn for the better after a week. I really don't know at this point as I'm only 2 days back. I expect I'll comeback stronger than I did after the trials. That was only my second marathon and I still wasn't very smart about my recovery. This past couple of years has taught me how to better recover to be able to better move forward, so I am confident that I'll be able to use this as momentum forward to even better performances in the future.
RM: In all honesty, how is your hip and do you see it being something that is going to slow you down or is it one of those things you can feel but doesn't affect your running.
PR: My hip has been a persistent limiter for the last year. I had a great bounce back after Boston last year and ignored my hip pain for a couple of weeks once we were starting to go hard. I wound up pulling my piriformis (butt muscle, real painful) and losing my entire summer last year. That piriformis is still really knotty and tight, so that really is something that I know slows me down some days. Overall, I've just had to learn to be smarter on my easy days and be more consistent with stretching. I had never before had any form of running injury in my 13 years of running (knock on wood), so this is all new to me.
RM: Where do you see yourself running another marathon and when?
PR: It looks like I'll be trying to do some justice to my time this year and going to Chicago, although New York is another consideration we're discussing as it is the US Championship. Either way, I will be doing a fall marathon this year, barring injury or illness.
RM: What are some of your goals that you want to accomplish with running in the next few years?
PR: I want to get my time down some and try to get on a World team for the half or the marathon. I was shooting for that in Boston, but you don't always get perfect conditions and that is something that is out of our hands. Long-term, I want to make a legitimate run at the Olympics, especially if Chicago gets the bid. My college coach used to say, "I've never coached an Olympian, so if that was my measure of success, I've failed. But we would rather make winners in life." Why not give him both, plus the opportunity to come watch it happen right down the street? That would be my ultimate dream and my gift back to my family, friends, and coaches who have all helped me to get to where I am. There's nothing quite like having everybody you know out there at the sidelines supporting you, living vicariously through your performances. To some people, that's pressure; to me it's excitement.
