On October 13, the 39-year-old mother of two children below 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 he or she couldn’t be extra excited.
“I am pumped for [the Chicago Marathon]—it’s flat and it’s quick,” D’Amato tells Properly+Good. “Working a marathon is tough, so why ought to we throw a bunch of hills into it? The Chicago Marathon is tremendous aggressive, the crowds are unbelievable, and the town actually reveals as much as assist the race.”
D’Amato has a novel historical past with the Chicago Marathon: She completed fourth within the ladies’s elite discipline in 2021, after which returned in 2022 and 2023 as a commentator for NBC within the car that drives simply forward of the pack of lead ladies 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 yr, I’m again to operating my legs, even when operating my mouth is slightly bit simpler. However I positively obtained a lot FOMO at any time when I wasn’t there to run, so I’m actually excited for the chance to run this yr.”
D’Amato and her household relocated from the midwest to Park Metropolis, Utah, earlier this yr to assist her operating profession, and D’Amato says it’s finished the trick—she’s quicker than ever and loving the journey of constructing her prowess within the elite discipline.
“[Moving to Park City] has been an enormous change for me, nevertheless it’s been superior,” D’Amato says. “My [running] quantity has been larger, my exercise hundreds have been larger and higher, and I’ve been doing very 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 be able to deal with duties round the home, spend extra time together with her children, and provides her physique a break.
D’Amato shares her prime 5 ideas 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.
“Individuals 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 essential for restoration—particularly protein and carbs.”
As a result of her full-time job is to run—and run loads—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 certain to eat numerous her favourite meals.
“Within the weeks after a marathon, I consciously attempt to acquire again the load I’ve misplaced in order that I’ll be robust and nourished for the subsequent race construct,” D’Amato says. “I eat all the pieces I wouldn’t usually eat in extra throughout coaching, like root beer floats, that are a private favourite.”
Each skilled and newbie runners can profit from discovering consolation and delight in nourishing their our bodies with loads of good meals after an enormous race.
“Regardless of how the race goes, it’s essential 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 happy with.” —Keira D’Amato
2. Get a therapeutic massage
Most athletes know the way soothing it’s to have somebody work in your muscle mass 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 mass, 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 inside the two days following a race earlier than her muscle mass and joints change into too swollen and stiff.
Whereas massages may be an costly luxurious, some races supply free or discounted post-race massages both within the finisher’s space or on the race expo. Native therapeutic massage faculties may additionally supply massages for a decrease charge, 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 means 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 after I’m touring to races or again residence. I feel it’s so essential on your physique and your mind to verify blood is flowing effectively all through your entire 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 taking good care of them, particularly as a result of leg swelling may be frequent whereas sitting for lengthy intervals of time, like on a flight or street journey.
4. Give your self grace
D’Amato finds quite a lot of pleasure from the whole 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 capable of 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 objective or missed the mark, it’s wholesome to replicate and determine what you’ll be able to be taught from the expertise,” D’Amato says. “Often you’ll be able to pull extra from the races that don’t go your means, and you need to use these alternatives to stage as much as be a greater individual by means of the robust occasions, and conversely, be taught what went nicely from the nice occasions.”
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. Not like many U.S. skilled runners who flip to the elite ranks instantly following a collegiate operating profession, D’Amato stepped away from the game after operating in school and didn’t return to it for almost a decade. When she got here again to operating, she constructed again to her elite type and has by no means appeared again.
“I at all times like to seek out the silver lining. There are such a lot of issues out of your management throughout a marathon—some might go your means and a few might not,” D’Amato says. “Regardless of how the race goes, it’s essential 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 happy with.”
5. Reconnect with different points of life
A big a part of D’Amato’s life is taken up by operating as a result of it is her profession. However whilst an elite runner, D’Amato nonetheless enjoys connecting with the opposite components of her life which can be fully unrelated to operating, particularly after an essential race.
“I really like the chance to make amends for all the pieces 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, set up my bookshelves, and do enjoyable issues with my children, 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 operating.
“I really feel fortunate that I’ve this full life by which operating is an enormous deal to me, nevertheless it’s not all the pieces to me,” D’Amato says. “I feel switching out of ‘operating mode’ and going again to who you might be and connecting with all the pieces that makes you who you might be is a very optimistic factor. Whether or not you win or lose, operating is barely a sliver of your life.”
