Luke is a member of the extremely competitive Hanson/Brooks distance team. Luke is one of about a dozen marathoners from the group that has qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials. He ran his qualifying time for the trials of 2:15.22 at the 2006 Chicago Marathon. Unfortunately Luke has come across some hard times and is overcoming an injury that has set him back several weeks of quality training and preparation.
RM: How excited are you for the Olympic Marathon Trials and why? Do you look at the Trials as just another marathon? What do they mean to you?LH: If you would have asked two weeks ago, I'd have probably told you that I wasn't running. But now, I don't know. I am really thankful to be able to still run and at least, cover the ground. It's something I have thought about for a long time, so it will be nice to be there in that atmosphere.
Right now, I don't know what to think, as it's really not the Trials for me anymore, or is it another marathon for me. I think the best way to describe this is as a big experiment.
The Trials mean everything. It's why I'm running. To qualify means that you are one of the best that your country has to offer.
RM: What has changed with your running since the last Trials? What changes have made the biggest difference in your fitness? LH: In '04 I was finishing up at CMU. I remeber listening to the webstream at my desk. That's when I became a Brian Sell fan. I thought he was a real tough guy. Now I know he's just a goofball.
The biggest changes I've made have been that I started running marathons. I have known that this would be my distance and I like the training a lot more.
RM: What is your biggest advantage to doing well going into the Trials and why?LH: I have had some email discussions with Dr. Goslin at Oakland (he was my chair for my thesis and worked with Dr. Noakes, author of Lore of Running) and we talked about research and stories about runners coming off of major layoffs only to run amazing times. Actually, I read an article thae Mike Reneau gave me about Meb. He missed three weeks of running at six weeks out from the '04 Trials. When he was running, it wasn't much. He said something about not knowing what was going to happen.
Anyway, I'm going to be well rested and that is going to be huge, in my eyes. Second, nobody expects anything from me. Around here, it's been, "oh sorry for your loss." It's like I was diagnosed with a terminal disease. I think that makes me dangerous. If I run well, then it's going to be a big surprise. If I run bad, then it's going to be, "well, you didn't even run in the month of Sepetember." Third, I am very young and have nothing to lose. I am only 26 and not even close to being as well as I can be in another 4 years.
RM: What would it take to make you walk away from the Trials disappointed and why? What would it take to allow you to walk away content from the Trials and why?LH: I think that if I don't go in there expecting to run until I drop, or break something. I am ok with failure as long as I know I risked it all. And, even by risking it all, it's not really a risk. If I hurt myself again, I'll just take time off. If I crash and burn, then I'll learn something. But, I'm not going to be afraid of what I didn't do. I think I would retire if I thought that I didn't take a shot.
That would make me content, just knowing that I gave it everything I possibly could. I realize there is a thin line between bravery and stupidity, but if you can straddle that line, then you can do amazing things.
RM: What are your thoughts on the level of competition that is going to be toeing the line for the Trials? LH: Stacked, plain and simple. After this race, you will know where you stand in the marathoning scene in the U.S.
RM: How many more Olympic Marathon Trials do you see yourself competing in down the road and why? LH: I don't know. I'll run 'till I drop. You can't put an end date on that, or I think you end up just coasting in. I have two conditions. One is that I still love going to work everyday and improve on what I do. The second is that I still feel that I can be competitive. If I can't satisfy those two conditions, then I'll find something else to do.
