On October 13, the 39-year-old mother of two youngsters underneath 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 Effectively+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 the town actually reveals as much as assist the race.”
D’Amato has a singular historical past with the Chicago Marathon: She completed fourth within the ladies’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 ladies runners.
“I prefer 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 operating my legs, even when operating my mouth is a little bit bit simpler. However I undoubtedly bought a lot FOMO every 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 operating profession, and D’Amato says it’s executed 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 increased, my exercise masses 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 be able to 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.
“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 vital for restoration—particularly protein and carbs.”
As a result of her full-time job is to run—and run loads—D’Amato says she all the time 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 achieve again the load I’ve misplaced in order that I’ll be sturdy and nourished for the subsequent 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 delight in nourishing their our bodies with loads of good meals after an enormous race.
“Regardless 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 all the time one thing to be pleased with.” —Keira D’Amato
2. Get a therapeutic massage
Most athletes understand how soothing it’s to have somebody work in your muscular tissues 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 muscular tissues, and that all the time 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 muscular tissues and joints develop into too swollen and stiff.
Whereas massages may 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 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 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 after I’m touring to races or again house. I believe it’s so vital to your physique and your mind to verify 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 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 numerous pleasure from your entire 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 fun it when it does, just like the time she set the previous American document 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 work out what you may study from the expertise,” D’Amato says. “Often you may pull extra from the races that don’t go your approach, and you should use these alternatives to stage as much as be a greater individual by way of the powerful occasions, and conversely, study what went properly 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. In contrast to 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 at college 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 all the time 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 approach and a few might not,” D’Amato says. “Regardless 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 all the time one thing to be pleased with.”
5. Reconnect with different features 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 at the same time as an elite runner, D’Amato nonetheless enjoys connecting with the opposite components of her life which might be fully unrelated to operating, particularly after an vital race.
“I really like the chance to make amends 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, arrange my bookshelves, and do enjoyable issues with my youngsters, like take them to a strawberry patch or pumpkin selecting.”
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 wherein operating is an enormous deal to me, but it surely’s not every little thing to me,” D’Amato says. “I believe switching out of ‘operating mode’ and going again to who you’re and connecting with every little thing that makes you who you’re is a extremely optimistic factor. Whether or not you win or lose, operating is just a sliver of your life.”
