Pat Rizzo is one of our favorite Colorado pros. He’s run as fast as 2:13 for the marathon, moved from Boulder to Colorado Springs this year, and is outspoken about doping and his own frequent drug tests. We chatted with Pat about all of this.
Pat, you’re in Colorado Springs now. How does it compare to Boulder – the running community, trails, restaurants?
The culture here is undoubtedly different than Boulder. It’s really hands-off, small government, and libertarian around Old Colorado City, where I live. It’s a stark contrast from Boulder where everyone wants to have some hand in a rumor mill or regulate everything they don’t agree with. In that sense, it’s a cultural difference but I like it.
As far as the running community, it’s no secret that Boulder is pocketed and a little clicky (That’s not an insult, by the way. It’s an observation.). The coaches in Boulder are protective of their athletes and their groups and tend to keep things closed off to some degree or another. In Springs, it’s welcoming and inviting. It’s more of what I was used to back in my Illinois days. I can call someone and say, “Hey Ian, I’m going 20 miles tomorrow. You want to join?” There is no problem with people having different coaches and still running together for any kind of run, workout, or otherwise. We’re all personal friends out here too. Most of us have been on some international teams and have been racing each other for a while. We aren’t threatened by each other working out. Boulder gets a lot of young talent trying to see if they will sink or swim and although that keeps us 30-something year-olds in line, it can also be prohibitive to long-term training goals.
Now the trails here are another story. I like the Boulder trails; I LOVE the Springs trails. I’d say about half of our trail system is higher than South Boulder Peak, Bear Peak, and Green Mountain (Boulder’s big 3). There is also very little traffic on the trails even in the busy summer season. It’s no wonder we have guys like Carpenter and Dan Vega out of Springs and have young talent like Joseph Gray and Shannon Payne here too. The best part is everyone wants to run together here so I learned my way around this trail system pretty quickly.
The restaurants are a whole other conversation. I’ll be brief and say I’m now in heaven. Boulder has a lot of nicer, trendier, and higher end eateries. Springs has the kind of food that makes my midwestern roots shine! I haven’t had this many great gyro options since I left Chicago (sadly, we have pretty weak sushi options in the Springs though).
Are you still being coached by Brad Hudson? Who do you train with now, if anyone?
I have recently started, at least for the time being, self-coaching. I’d say it’s like the setup Hartmann had the last few years of writing my own schedule, but consulting with Brad and others on some details. I have been meeting up with the American Distance Project guys for long runs, but have mainly worked out alone. I wouldn’t mind some company and that’s why I’m moving more in my own direction. I think many roads lead to Rome and if I can get more workouts in with other people, it’s only going to make my path easier. Right now though, I meet up with any of about 20 people on easy days and have been solo for workouts.
2:15 at Houston, 2:18 at Chicago. Immediately after Chicago it sounded like you were going to take Fernando Cabada’s approach for a while and work on speed, short stuff even like 400s. Has that happened, or is that still the plan going into 2015? If so, why does that make more sense compared to what you were doing before?
I have moved to lower volume since Chicago. This summer was supposed to be a down cycle for me after I got back from Brighton Marathon in April. In a sense it was, but I also came back too quickly while sick and had a pretty bad experience with a drop in my hormone levels. That turned a down cycle that was supposed to get me ahead into just getting my head back above water. I went into Chicago marathon then able to run well, but under-recovered from the spring marathon. That really messed up my longer term plans for 2014-15 and now I’m rewriting how to approach now until the 2016 Olympic Trials.
Before this training cycle, I was doing 10-12 miles as my short and easy mornings with 5-6 more miles at night. Now I’m doing 6-8 twice a day, running it faster, and getting a lot more pop to my step. I’ve always been a higher mileage guy and running “only” 80-90 miles right now has my legs turning over better than I have since college!…and that’s not a bad thing! The plan right now is to keep lower mileage and higher intensity going into Houston half in January and then gradually shift back into mileage mode and spend 7-8 weeks getting ready for L.A. marathon in March. If I think I need a longer speed block than 3 months, I’ll just stick to shorter stuff through maybe June and run Grandma’s marathon instead, but for now, L.A. is on my radar so I can give a dry run for trials on where to eat, what the town is like, visualize the race, etc.
As far as WHY I’m taking a lower mileage block for a while it’s twofold. First off, my legs have been flat for about 2 years right now. I just couldn’t even run a sub 70 second quarter mile on the track, in spikes if my life depended on it. Now I’m doing 12 in 65 seconds in a single workout. That SHOULD make 5 minute pace feel easier when I get out there for the next marathon. Secondly, it’s a change of stimuli for the body. I have mastered running marathon workouts to the point that sometimes I don’t get the full benefit of it because I know how to protect myself from any impending implosion. With speed, some days I just blow up…and that’s okay! It’s still faster than I’ll be racing most distances and it’s still giving a physiological benefit. That’s what I need right now is to get myself out of my comfort zone in workouts and in races.
You always have a good time posting about your drug tests. What’s your record for most in a year? For those of us that have never had one before, tell us what’s it like? Do they watch you from behind, or from your side a few feet away? One person, two? Male, female?
My record for a year was 13 in 2012. I got tested 12 times by USADA and 1 by UK anti-doping in London. In that, I had 3 tests in 4 days! I got tested the day I left for Houston to run the trials, got tested again the morning before the race, then got tested when I landed back in Denver the next day. Apparently I’m very high profile and didn’t realize it. I’d hate to see Trafeh, Gatlin, or Gay (all having served drug bans, run in Olympics or World Championships) get tested that much (all had fewer tests than me that year). All it tells me when I get tested that much is that the system of anti-doping isn’t working. I don’t have all of the answers, but I can tell you what DOESN’T work and this doesn’t work.
The process is that if you’re in the testing pool, decided by the sport’s governing body, you have to fill out quarterly whereabouts forms stating where to find you any hour of the day (in 15 minute blocks). If you are not there, you get a whereabouts failure and two of those get you a 2 year ban, so you have to keep USADA up to speed on your weekend trip to see a play in Cripple Creek or a change of a work shift or you leave yourself at risk of failure. When they DO wake you up at 6 am (standard since most people wake up needing to pee and they can get out of there in a hurry), you’ll select your sample jar, which is sealed in plastic. Then you select your A/B bottles to split your sample into for shipping and testing. From there it’s off to the bathroom where a person of your same gender (hello Phil and Richard!) will have to watch the stream exit your body (yes, it’s intimate and robs both parties of any dignity we may have been clinging to). You have to fill the required volume of urine and it has to have X amount of actual urine substance to count, too diluted with water doesn’t get it. Then we go back to split the pee into the A and B cups and rest for 15 minutes (the required time) and a hematologist takes a couple blood samples. We then label all of the sample jar numbers and document it as being mine, seal all containers, wash our hands, and we part ways. It’s become pretty routine now as I have knocked out over 50 tests since 2007.
2015 is coming around, and I assume that means new contracts for many professionals. You’re with Mizuno, will we see that continue into the new year?
I am with Mizuno still as of writing. My agent deals with my contract negotiations for me (thanks Brendan!) and relays details as needed. Every year is a new year though and having had a pretty brutal 2014 is probably going to hurt my value. I obviously want to stay with Mizuno as they’ve been an excellent company to represent and work with and have so many awesome people working for them. Ultimately when I retire, I’d love to even work for them.
Thanks Pat, and good luck in the coming year!