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Louis Luchini has been a model of consistency and steady progression.
He finished second (1998) and 11th (1997) at the Foot Locker Nationals
while at Ellsworth (ME) High School; and was an 11-time All-American
in cross country and track at Stanford University. Now 23, he has
signed with Nike and is looking to forward to a full-time running
career.
But
Luchini's upward trajectory was interrupted this year by an injury
to his left Achilles. The pain and frustration of dealing with the
injury led to what was a bittersweet final year at Stanford. Luchini
helped lead the Cardinal to the 2003 NCAA cross county title and
ran the fastest 5,000m time in school history (13:25.19) at the
Mt. SAC Relays on April 17. But the Achilles hampered his training
and led to a series of disappointing races at the NCAA outdoor meet
(fourth in the 5,000m in 14:16.44), the Olympic Trials (12th in
the 5,000m in 13:50.44), and the KBC Night of Athletics Grand Prix
II meet on July 31 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium (Luchini did not finish).
Luchini
was one of the athletes under the spotlight in what was a complicated
selection process for the U.S. Olympic 5,000m roster. The top three
finishers at the Trials would normally have been selected for the
team, but a country may send more than one athlete to the Games
only if they all have the Olympic "A" standard. If there
is not more than one athlete with the "A" standard, a
country may send just one competitor, provided the athlete has the
"B" standard.
The
only athlete at the Trials with the "A" standard, Jonathon
Riley, finished second (13:30.85). Neither the winner, Tim Broe,
nor third place finisher Bolota Asmerom (13:32.77) had the "B"
standard. That meant that USA Track & Field selected four athletes
— Broe, Riley, Jorge Torres, and Luchini — to chase the
standard. Torres and Luchini were selected because they were the
only other athletes in the race who had previously run the "B"
standard.
Broe,
Torres, and Luchini all attempted to achieve the standard at races
in Europe before the August 9 deadline. Broe made the standard and
eventually advanced to the Olympic final. Luchini made his only
attempt in Belgium, after which he decided to hang up his spikes
for the season.
Luchini
returned to California for some rest and rehabilitation before relocating
to Maine, where he will stay until after Christmas. He had been
back training for a week when we caught up with him.
MensRacing.com:
First of all, could you talk us through that last race in Belgium,
where you tried to get the "A" standard for the Olympics?
Louis Luchini: Okay. First of all, I wasn't in very good
shape at the time. That was the big problem, I guess, because of
my achilles injury through the whole outdoor track season. It was
pretty bad. So I started out pretty fast. I'm actually not sure
what the split was for the mile, but it was fast enough through
the mile. And then at some point in the second mile, I just really
started hurting and started falling off the "A" standard
pace a bit. So I decided to drop out after awhile, after I knew
it was beyond hope.
MR:
What do you think you learned from that race?
LL: I don't know if I learned anything from that race!
I don't know. I just wanted to give it a shot — to go for the
time since I would have had a chance [to make the Olympic team]
since I had the "B" standard. So I figured it was worth
a shot, for sure.
MR:
Did the Achilles hurt during the race or after the race?
LL: Yeah, the Achilles was sore during and after. But
that's when I started taking some time off, after that race. I pretty
much called it a season.
MR:
Could you describe how having that Achilles injury affected your
training over the last year?
LL: Well it was okay during cross country season. I wouldn't
do any strides or anything like that during cross country. I only
raced a couple of races. I raced Murray Keatinge in Maine and then
Pre-Nationals and then I didn't do anything till Nationals, just
because the Achilles was bothering me a bit. But luckily I didn't
have indoor track eligibility so I was able to take it kind of easy
for awhile, and just build up training. And then it got really bad
during outdoor track because it's my left Achilles So maybe it's
because it's the inside foot around the track. Nothing flared it
up more than track races. I was able to have a pretty good race
at Mt. SAC [where he ran the "B" standard]. Then I had
to take some time off. And basically, after that, every time I did
a race I would have to take a few days to a week off. I just spent
a lot of time in the pool, trying to keep in shape that way. But
with all the time off I wasn't in very good shape.
MR:
And besides taking time off after races and that kind of thing,
were you doing anything else to try to make the Achilles better?
LL: I had tried rehab through parts of the season, but
at that point it was so far gone — it was so bad at that point that
the rehab just aggravated it more than anything else. So I was just
trying to get through the season, pretty much. And my mileage the
whole year was pretty low. It was probably in the 50s or 60s through
track. And the weeks that I could run it was pretty pathetic.
MR:
So what kept you going through that? That's a hard experience through
your senior year and getting ready for the Olympic Trials.
LL: Yeah, exactly. It was really tough to keep motivated
and I was definitely mad a lot of the time. But just being my last
year, I wanted to give it all I had. I wanted to help out our team
at the championship meets when they came around. And then of course
the Olympic Trials, you just want to be able to make it through
to that race.
MR:
What was the whole experience of the Trials like for you?
LL: Well, overall, I was disappointed obviously because
of my performance in the race. I guess it was a pretty good experience
to be able to race the Trials, even though I was disappointed. The
prelim. took quite a bit out of me and then when the final came
around I was pretty dead. I ran badly.
MR:
Were you expecting to be placed on the list to go and chase the
"A" standard?
LL: Yeah, Coach [Vin Lananna] had told me that was the
way it was going to work. So I'd heard that it might stay that way,
and I'd heard that some people were trying to change it. I didn't
know exactly the way it was going to be, but Coach Lananna told
me that I would probably get named to the list, [and I did].
MR:
What do you think are the most valuable lessons that you learned
from the whole experience of being in the Olympic Trials?
LL: I'm not really sure exactly! I'm not sure I took
a whole lot out from that race. I really don't know! I was just
disappointed really.
MR:
And what have you been doing since you got back from Belgium to
try to make the Achilles get better?
LL: After I got back from Belgium I went back to Stanford
and saw a few doctors and therapists, and we set up a rehab program.
And I took two months off, so I'm just getting started back running.
Between time off and rehab stuff — we're not going to do surgery
— hopefully that will be enough to heal it up.
MR:
So what sort of rehab have you been doing?
LL: Just different strengthening exercises for my calves
and also for my hips and upper legs to keep all the muscle groups
balanced.
MR:
When did you first hurt it?
LL: It was two [outdoor] track seasons ago. It started
out pretty light around Pac-10 and the regional meet that season.
But then it got aggravated at NCAAs that year on that hard track
in Sacramento [Luchini finished second in the 5,000m]. And then
after that [the Maine Distance Festival in July] it also got aggravated.
Then I had the summer to take some time off, but it just didn't
get much better.
MR:
Yeah, it seems like that's a terribly long time for it to be hanging
around. So how long have you been back training?
LL: Like a week. But I'm just starting back with 15 or
20 minutes a day. I'm pretty out of shape!
MR:
Do you have pain?
LL: No, it feels good now. So that's encouraging. I think
the strengthening stuff has helped, and just the time off in general.
MR:
And are you aiming for any particular races? Has that thought even
come into your head?
LL: Yeah, it has. I know it will take me awhile to get
back into good racing shape. But probably I'll do cross country
Nationals in the winter [the World Cross Country Trials in Vancouver,
Washington, on February 12-13]... I should hopefully be in shape
by then!
MR:
Now, we suppose you watched the Olympics. Seeing guys like [Ireland's]
Alistair Cragg and Tim Broe — who you've competed with before
— make the final, what was that like for you, watching that?
LL: It's always fun to watch the Olympics — guys like
them and Jonathon Riley. I didn't think about it too much.
MR:
As far as your time at Stanford, what are the things that stand
out for you as highlights?
LL: A lot of the highlights come from cross county. Especially
the last season when we had such a great team and the year before
when we won [NCAAs] for the first time. Those were two great years.
I just really liked the team and the guys. I had a great time there.
It was a great college choice for me. I wouldn't do it any differently.
MR:
Would you say you prefer cross country to track or was it more the
team aspect that you enjoyed?
LL: Yeah, it was the team that I enjoyed. The team was
fun. And actually, one of the other big highlights was my freshman
year, in 2000, when we won the NCAAs in outdoor track. We had a
great team with Brad and Brent Hauser, Gabe [Jennings], Michael
Stember, Jonathon Riley, and Toby Stephenson. That was a great team.
That was a great experience just to be on that team. Even though
I didn't really do a whole lot, it was just great to be with those
guys.
MR:
What did you run that year?
LL: I did the 10,000m that year. I don't know what I
finished, probably 17th or something. [Note: He finished 15th in
31:22.62.] But it was cool because we had six guys in the 10,000.
And right before the 10,000, Toby Stephenson was pole vaulting,
so that was cool. He was doing really well. And just being there
when we won the nationals was awesome, one of the best experiences
I had in college.
MR:
And at what point did you realize, 'Hey, I can run at the top level
nationally?'
LL: I guess I always thought that I could. But it's a
little intimidating when you first get into college and you get
worked, especially since we had such a great team. We had the Hausers
and others so you just got worked. But I always thought, since I
did so well in high school, I would be able to get up there eventually.
MR:
And what do you think was the key to getting up to that level?
LL: I really think a big part of it was the coaching.
Vin and I got along great. And he brought me up. He knew more about
me than I did, I think, on how I should run. I was never really
a high mileage guy. And he always planned the workouts and individualized
it so it would be good for me. We just worked perfectly together.
So good coaching, good teammates — being able to run with such a
great group of guys was awesome. I think that was a very big part.
MR:
You had a good academic record at Stanford as well. [Luchini was
named to the PAC-10 All-Academic team on multiple occasions.] What
was your major?
LL: Human biology.
MR:
How did you manage to maintain that balance between academics and
doing well athletically?
LL: I didn't really have any trouble with that. All the
professors that I had were pretty accommodating if I had to go to
a meet or something. I didn't have any big issues. I thought it
was pretty — I don't want to say easy, but — I was pretty lucky
because of I've heard of some bad cases [when professors weren't
understanding of athletes]. But the teachers were all nice to me
when I had to go away traveling. You just find time to study between
practices.
MR:
So what are your plans now that you've graduated?
LL: I'm going to keep running for a few years and see
how that goes.
MR:
So you'll run full-time then?
LL: Yeah.
MR:
Now you said you're going to stay in Maine until after Christmas.
Where do you plan to live?
LL: After that I'm going to go back and train in California,
at Stanford with the Farm Team. So I'll train with the Farm Team
and with Coach Gags [Farm Team coach Frank Gagliano].
MR:
So will he be coaching you?
LL: Yes.
MR:
What sort of training group will you have out there?
LL: I think I'll train a lot with Jonathon Riley and
Matt Lane. I'm really excited about doing that. Those are a couple
of great guys to train with. All three of us will probably be on
a pretty similar plan. Those are two great guys to work out with
so I'm excited about that.
MR:
Have you talked with Gags at all about what you'll need to do to
take it to the next level?
LL: No, we haven't really talked about that! We've just
talked about getting healthy first.
MR:
As far as your high school career and coming from Maine, what made
you decide to go out to Stanford in the first place?
LL: During recruiting, I really got along well with Vin.
Also, I really liked the team when I went out there and visited.
And plus it's a lot warmer than Maine out there! I wanted to get
away from winters, so I figured California would be a great place
for that. The team was awesome, which was pretty obvious then. And
the school was great, so I figured it would just be a great combination
of everything. I really liked the guys and the coach.
MR:
Would you have any advice for young high school runners on what
would be the best things for them to do to prepare for a good career
in college?
LL: I think it's different for each person. Some people
like to run a lot of miles and some don't. I don't know if there's
a surefire way to do it. I don't think I'd give anybody any advice.
It seems like luck a lot of times!
MR:
You mentioned running the World Cross Country trials. Beyond that
do you have any specific goals for the next couple of years?
LL: I haven't really thought about that a whole lot.
Right now I'm just focusing on getting healthy. For next year I'd
like to do well at the USA Nationals for Track & Field, and
to do well in the main races that everybody trains for. And hopefully
to give the "A" standard a shot again, when I'm healthy.
MR:
How will you keep the Achilles under control?
LL: I think I'll just incorporate all the strengthening
stuff as part of my training. I'll probably do more strengthening
with my legs than I used to. I never lifted weights when I was at
Stanford. I might start picking that up. That could help if I get
stronger my the legs and everything else.
MR:
As far as the 5,000 or the 10,000, do you have a preference?
LL: I like the 5,000 better. I don't really enjoy the
10,000, but I'll probably do some 10,000s as well. I don't know,
I may be more of a 10,000 guy, or not! The 5,000 is a pretty fun
race for me. I should learn to like the 10,000 better!
(Interview
conducted October 7, 2004, and posted October 14, 2004.)
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