New Year's Resolutions With Hoka One One's Nicole Tully

New Year's Resolutions With Hoka One One's Nicole Tully

Nicole Tully became a breakout star for the U.S. in just her first season of focusing on the 5k. She hadn’t even run the event before Payton Jordan in May,

Feb 5, 2016 by Lincoln Shryack
New Year's Resolutions With Hoka One One's Nicole Tully
Nicole Tully became a breakout star for the U.S. in just her first season of focusing on the 5k. She hadn’t even run the event before Payton Jordan in May, and less than three months later she was the U.S. champion. In Beijing at the World Championships, Tully was the only American woman to make the final. 

Before last season, Tully's best finish at USAs was 10th place in the 1500 at the 2012 Olympic Trials. Now she's nearing the 15:00 minute 5k barrier of which only 14 American women have cracked in history.  

The key for the 29-year-old was staying healthy for an entire year for the first time in her career, allowing her to thrive in a distance that came to her so quickly. Below, the Hoka One One runner talks about her big 2015, how she’s only scratched the surface of her 5k potential, and incredibly, how she manages to work a full-time job at Canon while training for the most important season of her career.

Oh, and there’s also the hilarious story of an incident that happened during last June’s U.S. 5k final. 

Noting the year you had in 2015, what are the goals for 2016?

I think my goal like everyone else’s goal is nab one of the spots on the Olympic team. Specifically this year is about getting more comfortable with the 5k. I would say last year I had a little bit ignorance is bliss kind of moments with the 5k where I didn’t really know what to expect, so I just went with it. That worked out really well for me but I’ve got room to improve, mostly on the strength side of running the 5k. I really didn’t start doing 5k specific workouts in training until January of last year, and even then I would still keep my toe in with the 800/1500 girls just in case the 5k didn’t go well for me. 

Building up on some of that strength and being able to hold a sub-15:00 pace and hold that consistently. I’m looking to be able to break 15:00 this year.

Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions this year, or have you given them up like most people?

My New Year’s Resolution was to not eat so many Goldfish during the day and instead eat normal meals and human food.

So working on your diet?

It’s mostly just trading any form of actual food for Goldfish. 

Do you have a specific strength workout you can share?

It’s really just lowering the threshold of all of my workouts. For instance, last year everything we were doing was right around 15:20 pace because that’s what I thought my best 5k was going to be. We were doing Ks in 3:05 whereas this year we’re cutting down and we’re doing Ks under 3:00. It’s really just getting acclimated to a different set of a pace, so everything’s a little bit faster across the board when we’re doing strength workouts from 800s up to miles.

Looking back on last season, what grade would give yourself?

Does it sound arrogant if I give it an “A”? [Laughs] It was hands down the best season I’ve ever had through my high school, college, pro years. I’ve been doing this for 14 years now. The biggest thing that finally clicked for me was that I wasn’t hurt for a full calendar year. Every year going all the way back to when I was 16 years old, I had to deal with some sort of a stress fracture or a neuroma or something that set me out for a period of time. Last year was the first year where I could really train consistently. I think that paid off more than anything.

I was finally able to get my body to do what I wanted it to do for the past decade.

Tully ran 15:05 in her 5k debut at Payton Jordan:



So the injury problems are why it took you so long to move up to the 5k?


Big time. Ideally, I’m probably a 3k runner if that was an outdoor event. So I always knew I could probably run a strong 5k, but I never thought I’d be able to handle the volume of training that you need to do in order to be successful. 

What are your plans for the indoor season?

I’m going to open up with a 3k at the Armory. 

USA’s and World Indoors if you qualify?

Yeah, I’m planning on running at least USAs. I think it will be fun to have it out in Portland, it sounds like they have a really awesome facility set up. Indoor season for me is all about just racing and being competitive, I don’t really care about the times I run. I just want to get used to race strategy and learning when people are moving. Indoors is such a good opportunity for that. 

Switching gears. Was it intimidating stepping to the line at the World 5k final next to two of the best ever, Genzebe Dibaba and Almaz Ayana?

I don’t think so, but I think that’s more my mindset. I don’t really get nervous or overwhelmed easily. I remember actually standing on the starting line, next to Dibaba…I remember standing next to her and looking over to her and laughing to myself. I was like, ‘God, I never would have seen this coming. I’m standing on the starting line next to the World record holder in the 1500.’ 

I guess it could be intimidating, but I was so pleased with everything I had achieved that season and making the final at the World Championships was really my goal there. 

What’s the most important thing you learned through your success?

The biggest thing that was tricky for me that I never had to do before was hang on to my fitness for eight weeks after USAs. Worlds was so late compared to USAs that it was a really long time to stay fit and stay sharp. I think I would do that period differently if I could do it over again. I was perfectly peaked for USAs and I wouldn’t trade that for anything because the margin of that 5k was so tight, that if you weren’t 100% on your game, you weren’t making the team. 

That eight week period was hard to hold on to my fitness and I would maybe structure my training a little bit differently.

How is it possible to work full-time and compete at such a high level?


I’m lucky in the sense that the company that I work for is incredibly supportive. My direct manager and the VP of my department understand what I do with running, and they give me the flexibility to do both. My job is PR and advertising so there’s a lot of deliverables. I do all of our media buying, I place all of our ads, I direct social media. I’m not necessarily woking in a strict 8-5, in an office environment. Plus, I work remotely, I work from home. That’s probably the biggest thing that makes it possible. I can go for my run and sit down to work and look like I just ran eight miles and it doesn’t matter. 

I like it because I know I have a career once running is over plus I like having something else I’m doing with my life so I’m not just thinking about running 24/7.

Do you look at it as a disadvantage that you have to overcome compared to your competition?

I really don’t. Part of it is what you want out of your life— I worked so hard undergrad and in grad school that I didn’t want to finish running and not have any job prospects. It’s what you make it. The reality is, do a lot of professional athletes come home and nap in the afternoon? I guess so. But if I’m just sitting at my dining room table working, I’m still recovering too. 

I don’t know, I don’t see it as a disadvantage. For me, it’s an advantage because I do really well when I have a lot to balance and not so well when I’m running and thinking about running.

Who is your running hero?

Probably my college coach, Gina (Procaccio). I feel like I’ve really followed in her path. Before I was at Villanova, I went to Wake Forest for three years and then transferred. I was ready to quit running when I was at Wake Forest, it was going so poorly for me. Gina really gave me the opportunity to start over at Villanova and she had gone through the same thing. She went to the University of Florida and then transferred to Villanova. When she transferred—same as when I did— running really took off. 

She’s really just given me great advice throughout the years and her perspective on training and racing and running really has shaped my perspective as an athlete. She actually won the 5k at USAs in 1995, so I won 20 years later, same event. I feel like I’m following in her footsteps.

Can you share a crazy running story?

I don’t know if I should really say this. During the finals at USAs in the 5k when Katie Mackey went down, she pants-ed me on her way down. With a lap and a half to go, my bare bum was completely out. I remember being so embarrassed during the race. I remember for an entire 200 thinking, ‘oh my gosh, somebody had to of caught that on film. That’s going to show up somewhere.’

I haven’t seen a photo of it yet, but I know it happened.

Ok, these next few questions are going to be really quick.

Mile repeats or a tempo run?

Oh, mile repeats. I hate tempos.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee 100%

Dogs or cats?

Dogs. I’m deathly allergic to cats. That’s an exaggeration, I probably wouldn’t die.

Last movie you saw?

Sisters, the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler movie. It was hilarious. 

Biggest fear?

Zombies. I can’t watch the Walking Dead without having zombie dreams.

Guilty pleasure TV show?

Pretty Little Liars. 

Favorite track meet?

Penn Relays.

Least favorite track meet?

Anything in Des Moines. Des Moines is just not my town.