On October 13, the 39-year-old mother of two youngsters beneath 10 years previous, licensed realtor, {and professional} runner for Nike will line up on the 2024 Chicago Marathon—her sixteenth race of this distance—and she or he couldn’t be extra excited.
“I am pumped for [the Chicago Marathon]—it’s flat and it’s quick,” D’Amato tells Nicely+Good. “Operating a marathon is difficult, so why ought to we throw a bunch of hills into it? The Chicago Marathon is tremendous aggressive, the crowds are unimaginable, and town actually exhibits as much as assist the race.”
D’Amato has a novel historical past with the Chicago Marathon: She completed fourth within the girls’s elite subject in 2021, after which returned in 2022 and 2023 as a commentator for NBC within the automobile that drives simply forward of the pack of lead girls runners.
“I wish to say that I’ve run my legs and I’ve run my mouth in Chicago for the previous three years,” D’Amato says. “This 12 months, I’m again to working my legs, even when working my mouth is a bit bit simpler. However I positively acquired a lot FOMO each time I wasn’t there to run, so I’m actually excited for the chance to run this 12 months.”
D’Amato and her household relocated from the midwest to Park Metropolis, Utah, earlier this 12 months to assist her working profession, and D’Amato says it’s completed the trick—she’s quicker than ever and loving the journey of constructing her prowess within the elite subject.
“[Moving to Park City] has been an enormous change for me, but it surely’s been superior,” D’Amato says. “My [running] quantity has been greater, my exercise hundreds have been larger and higher, and I’ve been doing rather well with the load. I’m coming into Chicago actually match, wholesome, and feeling good.”
As amped for the Chicago Marathon as D’Amato is, she values the downtime after an enormous occasion simply as a lot so she will sort out duties round the home, spend extra time along with her youngsters, and provides her physique a break.
D’Amato shares her high 5 suggestions for locating pleasure and restoration in her downtime that anybody—skilled runner or weekend warrior—can apply to their life.
1. Nourish your physique
As quickly as she crosses the end line of a race, D’Amato says she has one thought: meals.
“Folks ask me what my favourite post-race meals is, and it truly is the closest meals to me on the end line,” D’Amato says. “I say that jokingly, however getting in meals as quickly as potential after a race and within the days and weeks following is so vital for restoration—particularly protein and carbs.”
As a result of her full-time job is to run—and run rather a lot—D’Amato says she at all times loses a little bit of weight unintentionally throughout an enormous marathon construct. However throughout her post-race restoration, she makes positive to eat a number of her favourite meals.
“Within the weeks after a marathon, I consciously attempt to achieve again the burden I’ve misplaced in order that I’ll be sturdy and nourished for the following race construct,” D’Amato says. “I eat every little thing I wouldn’t usually devour in extra throughout coaching, like root beer floats, that are a private favourite.”
Each skilled and novice runners can profit from discovering consolation and pleasure in nourishing their our bodies with loads of good meals after an enormous race.
“Irrespective of how the race goes, it’s vital to not lose sight of the truth that you simply ran a marathon, and that’s an enormous accomplishment. There’s at all times one thing to be pleased with.” —Keira D’Amato
2. Get a therapeutic massage
Most athletes know the way soothing it’s to have somebody work in your muscle groups after a tricky exercise or grueling competitors. For D’Amato, massages are a non-negotiable throughout her restoration downtime.
“A therapeutic massage is such an effective way to jumpstart your restoration,” D’Amato says. “Therapeutic massage helps get blood flowing once more in any swollen or achy muscle groups, and that at all times helps me really feel bodily and mentally a bit higher after extending myself in a race.”
D’Amato tries to get a therapeutic massage throughout the two days following a race earlier than her muscle groups and joints turn out to be too swollen and stiff.
Whereas massages will be an costly luxurious, some races provide free or discounted post-race massages both within the finisher’s space or on the race expo. Native therapeutic massage faculties might also provide massages for a decrease price, too.
3. Use compression gear
If D’Amato can’t entry a therapeutic massage as quickly as she’d like after a race or taxing coaching session, she makes use of compression instruments like Normatec boots to maintain blood successfully circulating by way of her legs.
“Any leg or calf compression boots will do, however I actually just like the Normatec Go boots ($356),” D’Amato says. “I’ll use my Normatec Go boots once I’m touring to races or again house. I feel it’s so vital to your physique and your mind to ensure blood is flowing effectively all through your complete physique.”
Normatec boots—and most leg and calf compression boots—are TSA-approved to be packed in carry-on baggage and used in-flight. Your legs will thanks for caring for them, particularly as a result of leg swelling will be frequent whereas sitting for lengthy durations of time, like on a flight or street journey.
4. Give your self grace
D’Amato finds a variety of pleasure from the complete course of behind being an elite runner: the coaching, the racing, and the restoration. As a result of she loves the method a lot, she’s in a position to give herself grace when a race doesn’t go fairly to plan, and have a good time it when it does, just like the time she set the previous American file within the marathon in a time of two hours, 19 minutes, and 12 seconds in 2022.
“Whether or not you hit your aim or missed the mark, it’s wholesome to mirror and determine what you possibly can be taught from the expertise,” D’Amato says. “Often you possibly can pull extra from the races that don’t go your approach, and you should utilize these alternatives to degree as much as be a greater individual by way of the robust instances, and conversely, be taught what went properly from the nice instances.”
D’Amato likes to “zoom out” after a race and to remind herself {that a} decade in the past, she didn’t even have the arrogance to coach for a 10K race. In contrast to many U.S. skilled runners who flip to the elite ranks instantly following a collegiate working profession, D’Amato stepped away from the game after working in school and didn’t return to it for practically a decade. When she got here again to working, she constructed again to her elite type and has by no means seemed again.
“I at all times like to search out the silver lining. There are such a lot of issues out of your management throughout a marathon—some could go your approach and a few could not,” D’Amato says. “Irrespective of how the race goes, it’s vital to not lose sight of the truth that you simply ran a marathon, and that’s an enormous accomplishment. There’s at all times one thing to be pleased with.”
5. Reconnect with different points of life
A big a part of D’Amato’s life is taken up by working as a result of it is her profession. However at the same time as an elite runner, D’Amato nonetheless enjoys connecting with the opposite components of her life which are fully unrelated to working, particularly after an vital race.
“I like the chance to atone for every little thing that I used to be too drained or too busy to do throughout a marathon coaching block,” D’Amato says. “Throughout these weeks post-race, I really feel like superwoman. I’ll clear the home, manage my bookshelves, and do enjoyable issues with my youngsters, like take them to a strawberry patch or pumpkin choosing.”
D’Amato says making these different components of her life a precedence when she isn’t racing reminds her that she’s a “full individual” with many pursuits and enjoyable issues she likes to do exterior of working.
“I really feel fortunate that I’ve this full life by which working is an enormous deal to me, but it surely’s not every little thing to me,” D’Amato says. “I feel switching out of ‘working mode’ and going again to who you might be and connecting with every little thing that makes you who you might be is a extremely optimistic factor. Whether or not you win or lose, working is simply a sliver of your life.”
