On October 13, the 39-year-old mother of two children beneath 10 years outdated, licensed realtor, {and professional} runner for Nike will line up on the 2024 Chicago Marathon—her sixteenth race of this distance—and she or he couldn’t be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 Effectively+Good. “Working 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 unbelievable, and town actually reveals as much as help the race.”
D’Amato has a novel historical past with the Chicago Marathon: She completed fourth within the ladies’s elite area 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 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 yr, I’m again to operating my legs, even when operating my mouth is just a little bit simpler. However I undoubtedly obtained a lot FOMO every time 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 help her operating profession, and D’Amato says it’s achieved the trick—she’s quicker than ever and loving the journey of constructing her prowess within the elite area.
“[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 masses have been greater 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 deal with duties round the home, spend extra time along with her children, and provides her physique a break.
D’Amato shares her prime 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 attainable after a race and within the days and weeks following is so necessary for restoration—particularly protein and carbs.”
As a result of her full-time job is to run—and run so much—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 achieve again the burden I’ve misplaced in order that I’ll be robust and nourished for the subsequent race construct,” D’Amato says. “I eat the whole lot I wouldn’t usually devour 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 necessary 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 tissue after a troublesome exercise or grueling competitors. For D’Amato, massages are a non-negotiable throughout her restoration downtime.
“A therapeutic massage is such a good way to jumpstart your restoration,” D’Amato says. “Therapeutic massage helps get blood flowing once more in any swollen or achy muscle tissue, 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 tissue and joints grow to be too swollen and stiff.
Whereas massages might 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 supply 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 after I’m touring to races or again residence. I believe it’s so necessary 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 caring for them, particularly as a result of leg swelling might be frequent whereas sitting for lengthy durations of time, like on a flight or street journey.
4. Give your self grace
D’Amato finds quite a lot of pleasure from your 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 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 report within the marathon in a time of two hours, 19 minutes, and 12 seconds in 2022.
“Whether or not you hit your purpose or missed the mark, it’s wholesome to mirror and determine what you’ll be able to study 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 should use these alternatives to degree as much as be a greater particular person by way of the robust occasions, and conversely, study what went effectively 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 boldness 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 at college and didn’t return to it for practically a decade. When she got here again to operating, she constructed again to her elite kind 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 necessary 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 facets 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 elements of her life which can be fully unrelated to operating, particularly after an necessary race.
“I really like the chance to make amends for the whole lot 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 children, like take them to a strawberry patch or pumpkin choosing.”
D’Amato says making these different elements of her life a precedence when she isn’t racing reminds her that she’s a “full particular person” with many pursuits and enjoyable issues she likes to do exterior of operating.
“I really feel fortunate that I’ve this full life through which operating is an enormous deal to me, nevertheless it’s not the whole lot to me,” D’Amato says. “I believe switching out of ‘operating mode’ and going again to who you’re and connecting with the whole lot that makes you who you’re is a very optimistic factor. Whether or not you win or lose, operating is simply a sliver of your life.”
