The highs and lows of Keira D’Amato’s recent running journey can be neatly summed up in a single date: June 7.
Its hard coming back from announced she was scratching from the 10,000 meters at the she was scratching from the 10,000 meters at the. Give A Gift.
After a year in which she seemed nearly unstoppable, it was tough to put the brakes on her dreams. But on the very same day, she received news about the Up Dawg Ten Miler in Washington, D.C., a race she’d staged herself and won in November.
Sara Hall might plan to chase the American record Running From Substance Abuse Toward Recovery, had helped D’Amato put on the event. On June 7, he let her know her 51:23 was not only a women’s only American record—it was actually a world record.
At first, she couldn’t quite comprehend the upgrade. Now, with her characteristic sense of humor, she’s not shy about sharing it. “I got to hold my nephew for the first time and I told him, Your auntie is a world record-holder,” D’Amato told Runner’s World We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back.
Not that D’Amato is resting on the accomplishment—the Midlothian, Virginia, resident is returning to the roads in Chicago on Oct. 10, aiming to run her first marathon since the 2:22:56 Shoes & Gear Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona, and seventh on the list of America’s fastest women at the distance.
Published: Oct 05, 2021 1:49 PM EDT.
Letting go of the Trials wasn’t easy, at first
D’Amato’s hamstring first began to ache around April. She’d back off a week, resume training for a week, then find herself in pain again. Eventually, doctors realized the root of the problem—a tilt in her hip that placed undue stress on the hamstring muscle.
“My big learning lesson is, figure out the cause as soon as something starts feeling funky,” she said. “We were just treating the pain.”
The decision to scratch from the Trials wasn’t easy. D’Amato gave herself a day to feel sad, which lingered into two or three. From there, she tried to refocus herself on the positive.
“I have such a full life,” she said. “I just threw myself into my other worlds.” She made waffles for her kids’ breakfast, sold houses, and spent time with her husband Anthony.
It was tough, but it wasn’t the first time D’Amato has known heartbreak. After a standout career at American University, she developed multiple stress fractures. She had ankle surgery in 2009, then stepped way from the sport for seven years.
This time, she knew she’d be back, even if her timelines shifted. She watch the Trials as she always had—as a fan, albeit one with a bit more FOMO than usual—and made new goals and plans.
“Starting back at the bottom of the mountain, it’s a little intimidating, looking up and seeing how much work I have to do,” she said. “But if I can just be patient and put in the work and not try to force anything, I know I can climb back up that mountain and hopefully get a little higher next time.”
Around the same time, she also faced a health scare
When she was still figuring out how to manage the injury, D’Amato had one of her usual blood draws for InsideTracker, a company that offers biomarker analyses and recommendations. The test found low levels of the hormone cortisol, a potential warning sign of a condition like Addison’s disease, and flagged them for D’Amato to discuss with her doctor.
D’Amato booked a visit with an endocrinologist, a specialist in hormonal problems. The first doctor she saw gave her a stern warning: “If you run, you will die.” D’Amato tried to calmly explain that running was part of her job, then went to her car and sobbed.
Fortunately, she got a second opinion—a physician who assured her running was safe, provided she took steps to safeguard her health. The problem, D’Amato learned, was that in an emergency like an accident or a cardiac event, her body might not be able to respond appropriately. So she took a course of medication to raise her levels and made sure her family and medical team knew about the issue.
She still doesn’t know exactly what led to the dip, but now feels confident she and her doctors have the situation under control.
“We’re monitoring it and it seems to be doing fine,” she said. “I could have been dealing with this for the rest of my life, so I’m just thankful it was caught and it was addressed.
Not too much has changed now that she’s a sponsored athlete
This marathon also marks D’Amato’s first as a Nike runner. She signed a contract with the company in February—her first pro deal, a decade and a half after graduating from college.
The terms allowed her to stay in the setup that’s working for her. She trains largely on her own, under the guidance of coach Scott Raczko. Now, though, she has all the gear she needs for herself—including the Zoom Fly she trains in and the Vaporfly NEXT% 2 or Alphafly NEXT% she’ll wear in Chicago (she hasn’t quite decided yet)—as well as her family and community.
With Nike’s help, she’s sponsoring the Healthy Kids Running Series in Midlothian, and she’s even given shoes as a closing gift to her real-estate clients. “That’s been really fun for me to kind of pass that through to the community,” she said.
Her other job has also kept her busy
With the housing market as hot as it’s been, she’s had plenty of business, even as her training has ramped back up. She also studied 180 hours for her broker’s license and passed her test in August. And that’s not all—she’s also starting a property management company with a business partner.
It’s a lot for one person, but her partner knows and respects the time she dedicates to training. Besides, D’Amato feels she’s a better athlete for having other responsibilities.
“I think that’s a blessing of mine,” she said. “I'm not totally engulfed in running all the time.
She hasn’t raced much in her build-up, though she did post one important victory
D’Amato typically runs tune-up races during a marathon training cycle. This time, she’d planned to run Running From Substance Abuse Toward Recovery in Washington, D.C., which doubled as the USATF Ten Mile Championships.
“I really would have liked to, and it was starting to click, but we’re like, we’re just putting a race in to race. We were kind of forcing it at that point,” she said. She’s on the race committee, so instead, she rode on the lead vehicle and watched Nell Rojas outkick Olympic 1500 meter runner Jenny Simpson The Best Songs to Add to Your Playlist this Month.
The one competition she lined up for, however, was against her husband Anthony, a more casual runner. Before the hometown Pony Pasture 5K, the two had a friendly debate about how long Anthony would have to bike to have a chance of finishing the race first.
D’Amato used the race as a tempo run; with the race director’s blessing, Anthony traveled the first mile by bike, then ran the second two miles. D’Amato passed him in mile 2 to finish in 16:42, while he “ran” somewhere between 18:10 and 18:15 (the wheels meant he didn’t have official results). “That was awesome,” she said (for full highlights, check out her Instagram).
She isn’t as fit as she’d hoped heading into Chicago, but she’s excited to see what she can do
Part of the reason D’Amato chose the Chicago Marathon this fall was its flat, fast course—and the fact that she figured Published: Oct 05, 2021 1:49 PM EDT. When she was riding the momentum of a breakthrough year, she thought she might have a chance to hang on.
“It’s actually something that [agent] Ray Flynn and I debated and my coach for a while—do I want to go for a race with really fast time? Or do I want to go for a race that may be a little more tactical, and go for a win?” she said. Like Hall, she realized Chicago could offer both options.
The injury and recovery has caused her to recalibrate. D’Amato took three weeks off completely for her hamstring, then started training again in June. She now sees a physical therapist twice per week, working on strength exercises that keep her pelvis aligned.
“It’s hard coming back from injury. You really have to put your ego and everything aside and just be really, really patient,” she said. “I feel like in the last few weeks, I’m starting to see the accumulation of all that work, starting to feel kind of like my old self and hitting the times and the workouts that I was last year.”
Her weekly mileage has been a little lower than in the past—70 to 90, with one full day off a week, compared to 80 to 100 before the Marathon Project (and 100 to 130 afterward, before the injury). Her long and tempo runs have gone well, including a recent 8-mile tempo below marathon pace. But her speed has taken longer to return, and she thinks a time in the mid-2:20s is more realistic for her right now.
But she still hopes to contend for a podium finish—and she’s excited for the opportunity to race in a big event with cheering fans again, something that was missing during most of her recent big performances.
“Every time I’m on the start line of a marathon, I get really emotional that I've made it through like that journey,” she said. “Standing there on the starting line in Chicago, I'm just going to feel the same sentiment—like, I’m just so appreciative to be here. Let’s see what happens today. Hopefully, something magical.”
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
