​Former Texas All-American Craig Lutz got a rude awakening in his pro debut at the U.S.10 Mile Championships in October when he finished 42nd out of 44 guys. Going from sea level training in Austin to 7,000 ft. in Flagstaff, where he trains with NAZ Elite, took time for Lutz, which made for tough growing pains as the race results didn’t come right away.

But after winning the U.S. XC title two weeks ago in Bend, Oregon, it seems that he has adjusted to training and is now reaping the benefits on race day. We caught up with Lutz a couple days after his win for a few questions, both running and non-running related.

Looking back on the race, good thing you built that big lead. Can you imagine if going down the wrong chute had cost you a national title?


Lutz got a little help to the finish line en route to his first national title. (Screenshot courtesy: USATF.tv)

That was my first thought— ‘Dang, I hope that guy is not right there.’ I felt like an idiot. Honestly, I have no clue why I didn’t turn.

Talk about your strategy— you hung back from taking the lead for awhile, which is different from what you’ve done in the past.

Generally I like to be a little more aggressive, and I would say 90% of the time that does not work out for me. So Ben [Rosario, NAZ Elite coach] saw that at Clubs— that was our first scenario where he watched me blow up doing the racing strategy that I do. He worked pretty well pulling in the reigns on me.

How hard was the course in Bend?

I don’t think I’ve run a harder course. We spent the first K of each 2k loop climbing two pretty decent hills, and throughout the course any downhill that we touched was uncomfortable. You never really recovered. The course just breaks up your rhythm.

The accumulated effect of those hills, the downhills, and then it being at altitude, you feel it in the last 2k. It’s going to be interesting what it’s going to be like when the champs are back there next year and there’s World spots on the line.

Lutz after his win at the U.S. XC Championships:​​



How do you think you’ve transitioned to Flagstaff and life as a pro?

It took a little bit of time. I think everyone saw that first pro race, the U.S. 10-Mile Champs [He finished 42nd in 52:57]. That was about one month into Flagstaff training. I blew up. I got there and thought that the pace was incredibly hot while just 2-3 months before that I was running much faster on the track. I showed up in Minneapolis and thought that was the fastest thing I had ever done.

After that, the strength started to show. I ran a relatively fast 5k at the end of October and then gave a shot at the half [marathon]. Then I learned a lesson in getting sick at altitude, it kind of hangs around for a really long time. After the Vegas Half, I got a head cold, which at sea level is something that would never bother me, but up here it definitely took a couple weeks out of my training. 

We swung up to Club XC [in December], and I didn’t do as well as I wanted to and by the end of the season I looked back and thought, ‘oh man, is this really working for me?’ I wasn’t looking at the progression of my abilities, I was looking at race results and thinking I bombed two races. I couldn’t tell if it was working. But I think [the U.S. title] really showed that with patience and trusting Ben and having a pretty decent group of guys training around me, it’s definitely finally paying off.

Today was awesome. Great way to start the 2016 season!Thank you to everyone for the support! #letsgohoka #lutzgrind pic.twitter.com/Aj1hXiCwJG

— Craig Lutz (@Craig_Lutz) February 7, 2016

Have you had to change your mindset knowing that there’s going to be times as a new pro where you’re going to take your lumps?

Definitely. Going way back, you make the transition from high school to college, and at least in my case, I was winning a lot of races. I wasn’t really having a lot of challenge unless I was on the absolute top level of the U.S. Even still at the college level, I could expect to stand on any starting line and have a race that, maybe even if it wasn’t my best day, I could still pull together a positive experience.

But you take another step from college to the pro level, and you are all of a sudden racing guys who have been on this level 5 to 10+ years and they’re a lot stronger. It’s definitely an adjustment. Some guys come right out, Eric Jenkins starts throwing down 13:00s in the 5k and it’s like, ‘man I really wish I could be like that.’ That would be a lot less stressful. But some of us have to take the grind, and get a few months of training in before it starts to click.  

Is it hard your first year at altitude getting used to your reps being slower?

Yeah definitely. That’s one of the hugest components, understanding that our strength is our biggest asset. We won’t always get to touch race pace. We do get at lower elevations every once in awhile, and that helps a little bit, but it is a bit of a shell shock. Our rule of thumb is you have to get a couple miles into the race before it starts to feel more comfortable.

Even for regular runs, I still can’t do what I did in Austin, which was just hammer every single day. That probably wasn’t healthy. But four years of that, it’s hard to break that habit. It’s hard to think, ‘well a seven minute pace run is actually really good for me.’

It will be interesting. I have a pretty decent slate of track races, starting with Stanford, so it will be interesting to see if they start to feel easier as we get faster races in. Getting the Trials time [the 28:10 10k qualifier] is the first goal.

Do you have a crazy running story?

I mean, I don’t have a very exciting…yeah, I’m trying to think across all years.

Oh! I got bit by a dog two weeks ago. I still have a bruise on the back of my hamstring. It came out of nowhere. I’d like to say he was 100 pounds, but he was probably like 30. We had run into our neighborhood and we were probably like 200m from being done, and this dog just bolts across the street and runs straight at us barking. My first reaction was to approach it— I’m not used to ferocious dogs.

I realized his intent was not friendly so I tried to get going, but he grabbed right on to my hamstring and bit it pretty well. I just kind of laid down and then my teammates tried to go and see where the dog ended up going. We don’t know where he went, we never found him.

I still have the bruise on the back of my hamstring. I read about rabies after, it said it can show up anywhere from one week to one year, so I’m not in the clear yet.

Have you given any thought to when you might transition to the half marathon/marathon?

I see more halves sprinkled in over the next four years once we get past this Olympic year. In terms of the marathon, that’s just gonna be when Ben and me start to think that my base is getting there. I’m not motivated to as of now, but I have had a few people kind of higher up in my running career tell me that they see me doing well at the marathon. I don’t disagree, I’ve always been aerobically strong first and foremost.

But in terms of when, I don’t want to say that it’s going to be too soon because I just don’t want to do that. I’ve seen my teammates go through the training, and it doesn’t look fun. I don’t know, but I will say that 100% I will probably run a marathon in my life.

Did you have any New Year's Resolutions, and are they still going on?

This has been ongoing, but I think I wrote it down as like ‘really get it together Craig.’ I find myself when I start to get really serious into training, I just kind of come home, lay in bed, maybe take a nap, and then do a second run and then eat some dinner. Not a lot of contact with people. Kind of just hiding in a hole. 

I’ve told myself to go out and really try to live a life instead of taking advantage of this job where we don’t really do much. It kind of gets depressing when you just sit around. And I’m still hitting it pretty hard.

[Editor’s Note: Lutz texted this a couple hours after the interview: “New Years resolution: don’t lose to Molly again.” His time at the U.S. 10-Mile Champs was 1:13 slower than women’s winner Molly Huddle.]

Ok the last few questions are rapid fire.

Mile repeats or tempos?

Mile repeats.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee, though I will say that tea, I started drinking that when I got sick in December and I’ve thrown that into the diet. But still coffee.

Dogs (the non-biting types) or cats?

I still gotta go with dogs.

The last movie that you saw?

Oh man, I haven’t seen a movie in a long time. It would have been Spotlight. 

Yeah pretty indie of me. [Laughter]

What’s your biggest fear?

My biggest fear is just what a lot of us either avoid saying is our biggest fear or are just completely aware of it: Failure. Kind of embarrassing myself out there.

I definitely take what people think of me a little too strongly. I really hate the idea of disappointing people.

Wow that got serious for a second.

Yeah. And getting shot. 

Favorite track meet?

It’s gotta be Penn Relays. I’ve never done well there but it’s gotta be Penn Relays.

Least favorite track meet?

I didn’t like Mt. SAC. I raced absolutely terrible there, it’s one of my least favorite collegiate experiences of track. Too many heats.