A year on from joining Team New Balance Manchester, the British indoor 3000m silver medallist on how slowing things down has helped her speed up
The composition of Hannah Nuttall’s training may not have altered significantly since she joined Team New Balance Manchester, but the execution of her sessions has had a dramatic impact on her performances.
She opened her 2023 indoor season with an outright 3000m best of 8:52.63 at the BMC Sheffield Grand Prix before shattering that mark with 8:47.72 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston in February.
At the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul – representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the track for the first time – she improved her personal best to 8:46.30, finishing an impressive fifth in the 3000m final.
“This indoor season has exceeded all expectations…” she wrote on Instagram post-race. “I’ve learnt so much and gained a lot of confidence.”
Prior to relocating to the north-west of England, Nuttall – a qualified nutritionist – was based in London where she worked full-time and was coached remotely by her dad, John Nuttall, an Olympian and 1994 Commonwealth Games 5000m bronze medallist.
The Charnwood athlete comes from good stock, and throughout her career she has also benefited from the input and experience of her mum, Alison Wyeth, a two-time Olympian and Commonwealth bronze medallist over 3000m (1994).
Hannah Nuttall (David Lowes)
“Work was intense and I was having to fit training around that,” says the 25-year-old of her time in the capital. “It wasn’t really optimal…I’d just drag myself round and get it done, but I wasn’t ever smashing training or doing very good sessions. It was more just getting through it.”
Since moving to Manchester, her fast-paced lifestyle – as well as her training pace – has slowed substantially. That’s in part due to a refreshing focus on running and recovery without the distraction of a traditional day-job, but also due to the additional influence of coach Helen Clitheroe, the 2011 European indoor 3000m champion who represented Team GB over 1500m and in the 3000m steeplechase.
“Helen has had to reel me in a bit,” admits Nuttall, who believes she has the potential to step up in distance and impress over 5km this year. “That’s been a really big thing, because I used to do my runs pretty quick. Just having her there to tell me what to do whilst we’re training makes a really big difference.
“In the past, if my dad had set me a session and I was feeling awful, I would drag myself through that session and do everything to try and hit those splits even if I wasn’t feeling good, whereas if Helen is watching me, she might say, ‘Don’t do this’, or ‘Keep it controlled today’.
“It’s been quite surprising, because I always used to think that if you train harder then you’ll be better, but it’s training smarter rather than hard all the time.”
“I used to think that if you trained harder then you’d be better but it’s about training smart instead.”
In our How They Train series, British indoor 3000m silver medallist @hannah_nuttall talks through her schedule in our March magazine🏃♀️
She pays tribute to @TeamNBMCR 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PNsjddLReT
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 31, 2023
A typical training week
Nuttall has been susceptible to injuries in the past and commits to at least one non-running day per week, in addition to slowing down her runs more generally. Since joining Team New Balance Manchester, she has also introduced a gym programme which she believes is reaping rewards.
“I find that if I’m able to sleep well, eat well and do all the small stuff, that really helps me,” she says. “I think just being able to do all of those things has made a really big difference (to my performances).”
- Monday: easy day/pre-session day – 6 miles and drills, then strides (6 x 100m strides)
- Tuesday: (am) 1500m or 5km track session e.g., 4 x 1000m followed by 4 x 200m or 12 to 18 x 400m; (pm) 30mins on a static bike
- Wednesday: cross-train (elliptical) and gym session. “The gym work has made a really big difference,” says Nuttall. “I didn’t do gym much before I joined the team because I wasn’t that confident – but now I’ve got Helen and the team to help guide me. This has made me more confident and my technique has improved a lot. Before, I’d just focus on the running. I thought the gym was a bit gimmicky and I didn’t think I needed to do it. I don’t agree with that now as now I’ve invested time in it and I can really see the benefits in my strength and performances.”
- Thursday: easy run, 8 miles approx., followed by drills and strides
- Friday: (am) tempo session. “This is normally the longest volume session in the week and it’s quite controlled, which is something that I’m quite new to,” she says. “Before I joined the team my tempos were a lot faster but I’ve slowly realised that faster isn’t always better, especially when it comes to tempo work. An example of a tempo session would be a 6-7 mile tempo or 3 x 2-mile efforts, and we often have Helen on the bike to make sure we are running controlled and in the right training zone.” (pm) bike
- Saturday: easy 5-7 mile run then gym
- Sunday: 10-12 miles long run. “This is the one run that I’m allowed to push if I feel good, so the pace can range from 7:20 to 6:20 pace, but I’ll usually just go off feel. I’ll also try to make this run hilly to help with my strength.”
Favourite session
“4 x (1km-400m) – 90 secs between 1km and 400m, 3 mins between sets. The 1km will be around 3km pace and the 400m will be around 1500m pace. I really like that session. Those are the sessions that give you confidence if you hit the splits.”
Least favourite session
“I’ve not done this one with Helen, but I’ve done it in the past – 4 x 400m with 4 mins recovery. Those sessions are just painful, you just know it’s going to really hurt.”
» This is an excerpt from an interview that appeared in the March issue of AW, which you can read here
