Grind On with Craig Lutz

By Caleb Gatchell (featuring Craig Lutz)

Craig Lutz is one of the writers favorite distance runners and I had the privilege to interview him. He was 3rd in the 10k at NCAA’s his sophomore year, and then after a disappointing Junior year, he finished 4th in the 10k at NCAA’s this year. While his career has had its fair share of ups and downs, he is undoubtedly one of the most talented distance runners in America. Lutz has used this experience to expand into the world of running education, hosting his own running camp (find out more at lutzrunning.com).  I think he has shared some valuable lessons that he has learned and I hope you guys are able to learn some things as well as get to know him a little better. Enjoy the read!

Let’s start off by going back to the first two years of your college career. You had a lot of success, culminating in a 3rd place finish in the 10k your sophomore year. Were you surprised with how well those first two years went?

Yes it was a surprise! My confidence had been a bit shaky for most of those first two years and leading into that NCAA Outdoor 10k, I hadn’t really done anything to suggest I was going to be able to get third on that day. John Hayes (my first coach at UT) certainly believed in my fitness but I would just let his words pass over me because I wasn't seeing the same picture as him. I also barely scrapped by in the regional meet and I felt, ranked 21 out of 24, that just racing for an All American spot was going to be a big enough challenge for me on that day

Coming off of that 3rd place finish you had another good season in cross country, finishing 15th, but then had some health issues. How disappointing was it to not compete indoors, and then be unable to get back to NCAA's outdoors?

It was pretty hard to swallow. With a new coach starting my junior year, I was unsure of the direction of Texas at that present time. I was told to give him and the new program a chance for at least a season and with my 15th place finish (and how Dohner finished too) I was pretty pleased. However, heading into 2014, I wanted to accomplish a long list of things and that fueled a never ending motivation to get out the door and pound through every run. I quickly learned in January of 2015 that I was not invincible as I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in my left tibia. This should have been a quick recovery and I should have been back at it for outdoors but due to a few political decisions behind the scenes at Texas, my injury was prolonged and I would not see a healthy day for indoor or outdoor of my junior year

Did that shake your confidence at all coming into this year?

I would say that those 6 months from Jan to June was definitely the lowest part of my career, obviously physically but also mentally. I got so down on myself that I actually asked for help from our counseling staff at Texas who turned around and enrolled me into therapy. That was at the beginning of 2014 and it took until indoor of this last year for me to finally begin believing in myself once again. I saw tiny glimpses of the old Craig through-out cross country but I just couldn’t catch a break. But without injury and a more mature approach to training, consistency won out and that lead me to my best indoor and outdoor seasons of my collegiate career

At what point during indoors did you feel like things finally started to get turned around? Was there a specific race where you thought, "That's it. I'm back"?

Well the December race at Indiana helped a lot. While I never really put myself into contention to win it against Shrader (Brian) I was happy that I didn’t let the PR pace break me. It got me excited for the season to come. However, 2015 was slow to start with a poor showing at Kentucky and a second place finish at Notre Dame in the 3k. But then at Washington, I once again broke through a time barrier that had held me back for the last three years.

You mention your race at Washington. How special was it to get the school record in the 5k?

It meant a lot! I wanted to leave a mark at Texas that was more than just my sophomore finish at NCAAs. The goal was to go into outdoor and chase out outdoor times too but both were out of reach for different reasons. It's also fun to hold a record because now I get to watch from year to year and see if any of the guys coming into Texas now or in the future can grab my time.

Take me through the 5k at NCAA's indoors. Were you disappointed with how that race played out?

That was a very weird race. By that time in the season I had already raced 9 times and travelled 6 times before I stepped on the line for that 5k. I was confident in my fitness but I was second guessing myself because all I could think about was the abundant racing and the stomach virus I had come down with at Big 12s. The combination of the travel and the fact that my body was wearing down, I wasn't coming near my typical mileage each week and I was worrying that I wouldn’t hold my form late into the season. Basically, I was my worst enemy and had already counted myself out before the gun went off. Then to make matters worse, I decided I didn’t like the slow place of the 5k at nationals and tried to go for it and that only lead to painful death.

Outdoors was redemption time though. How sweet was it to finally execute a championship race well again and get back into that top group in the 10k?

Oh it was awesome! Plus the race couldn’t have unfolded in a more perfect series of events in my favor. I didn't even mind being run away from over those final laps. I knew I had thrown it down. I guess an unfortunate part about that meet though was that once again, I was showing up on tired legs (really showed at USAs). I think that's what I’m most excited for in the professional world; actually getting time between races

Looking at your career, I think it's fair to say that one of the things that defines you is the ability to bounce back from adversity. What are some of the key factors that allow you to do that so well?

I hate losing! It kills me to have gone all four years at Texas and only pick up a few wins at dual meets or home meets. I have had some chances at bigger races and I never play my cards right. So after every loss I try to learn from it and just move on. I shut it out and focus on the future. I’ve had some pretty nasty performances over the last few years that took a lot of focus to get over such as my sophomore ncaa xc showing but that day taught me more than any All American performance or PR race.

What are your Post-Collegiate plans?

I am an emotional runner. I rise with the highs and fall with the losses. I am competitive with everything but with myself mostly. Sometimes, even when I’m bored, I will go out on to a familiar loop and just try to break my record. It’s a dangerous game that I’ve had to limit over the years because it obviously leads to over work but sometimes I just can’t help it. I love racing I have signed on to a team with in the last month but we are waiting to make the announcement. It should be coming out pretty shortly though! I am very excited to get to continue as a professional athlete. There has always been a short list of goals in the back of my mind since I started running when I was in elementary school and those are, Run at a D1 program, become an All American, Run professionally, become an Olympic athlete. I would say that I have done well at getting through that list and I can’t wait to pursue that final one over the remainder of my career.

What is one thing most people don’t know about Craig Lutz that they should?

One of my more random things that I tell people is that I ate my very first glazed donut with Dick Clark (guy who used to host the Ball Drop in NYC) while he watched me for an afternoon in L.A.