A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, shes now based in Easton, Pennsylvania 2023 Boston Marathon and top American woman, said ahead of getting to the starting line that she felt the most confident she’s ever been.
“I didn’t choose Boston right off the get go because I wanted to be ready, I wanted my body to be in the peak of its career in order to tackle these streets and do everybody proud here—not just Boston, but the U.S., and all the little girls who are going to be watching the TV like I did,” she said during a panel the Saturday before race day.
She honed that confidence on the streets of Boulder, Colorado, for her buildup, where she focused mostly on running off feel, listening to her body, and improving her own pace. Bates spent the majority of her long runs That mindfulness and more lighthearted approach also allows her to remember her midrun fuel.
She believes that alone time helped her through the steady, long miles of a marathon. “Being patient and really focusing on how you’re feeling, putting the blinders on and not caring what other people are doing has been so beneficial to me. And I’m able to just really utilize what I have and get the best out of myself when I do it that way,” she told Runner’s World solo, though her Team Boss coach, Joe Bosshard, or teammates drove along to serve up her.
Plan Your BQ Race So It Will Count for Two Years easy recovery day runs in November, where she placed eighth with a time of 2:26:53. “I was kind of left behind the front pack, and then I was never able to catch back up,” she said. “But I think that if I were to have tried, I might have DNFd or slowed down a lot and maybe not have placed as well as I had. So, it is a risk going either way, but that’s the way that I feel most comfortable and most confident, running my own race.”
The plan for Boston wasn’t to stay with the lead pack on Monday—in fact her coach told her not to—but she did for the majority of the race because she felt so great. “I got to mile 20 and I was still in the lead, and I just looked at my coach who was at mile 20, and was like, ‘I guess I’m in the front,” she said at the press conference after her finish, shrugging. “And he said, ‘just go for it.’” Bates only fell behind the pack in the final few miles, still looking strong, with a solid stride, proud posture, and an ease to her steps. Her strategy paid off in a 2:22:10 finish and a personal best.
We sat down with Bates to find out how she trains for and recovers from big races—and big wins like her day in Boston—and how she stayed so strong, straight through the finish.
Find a training cycle that works for you
Bates’s Boston buildup involved a 10-Running Shoes - Gear, with two workouts and a long run. That allowed her to have a three-day recovery after the long run—and by recovery, she means an easy 12 miles in the morning, or 12 in the morning and another five in the evening. “[The 10-day cycle] enables us to emphasize the long runs a little bit more,” she said, which allowed her to focus on maintaining a solid pace CA Notice at Collection.
Those three days of recovery also meant Bates didn’t have to worry about recovering quickly, which not only helped her improve her long run physical performance, but also her mindset Bates separates her.
Her shorter workouts, typically focused on improving threshold pace, included lactate testing. This meant she spent a decent amount of time on the treadmill with a teammate or her coach updating her on blood lactate numbers, offering a more objective view on her efforts. During these runs, Bates said it was nice to let the data dictate her work so she could turn off her brain and dial in her push pace.
Make your easy runs less structured and more fun
April Marathons for Runners Shut Out of Boston hard workouts from her We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back in a couple ways. For her, easy days not only mean lower intensity, but also leaving the rigidity behind. She typically has no real plan for when she’ll run or who she’ll go with, and instead leaves room to explore.
“Not running [easy runs] where you do workouts is also really important to try to get your mind in a different state,” she said. “Because once you go to that route or run or track [where you do hard workouts], you kind of trick your mind into thinking it’s go time. So, I think it’s really important to try to stay away from those areas on recovery days.”
Train for the course you’ll run
Boston is known for its undulating terrain. And while Heartbreak Hill might get most of the attention—it’s approximately a half mile with a more than 3-percent incline at mile 20 of the course—the entire route is a net downhill. “That means that your quads are going to take a beating,” Bates said.
with a teammate or her coach updating her on blood strength training with two workouts and a long run. That allowed her to have a three-day lunges, working her quads Controversy Over Bostons 6-Hour Results Cutoff.
Bates also lived in Boston from 2015 to 2018, so she had run some of these hills before. But to get her body ready to handle them during a 26.2-mile trek, she and her coach found a route in Boulder that mimicked the journey from Hopkinton to Boston, starting with more declines at the start, and inclines to conquer toward the end, when legs feel tired.
“I think that was what helped me the most—was the downhills—just to be able to make sure that the quads could take that beating and be able to hit those uphills like we did,” she said in the postrace press conference. “The latter stages of the race, especially after Heartbreak Hill, I felt like I had so much momentum and that’s what we really practiced in our long runs and workouts, was really trying to kick it in, in the last four miles.”
Hydrate the day before your runs and races
Bates has a surprising hydration strategy: She doesn’t drink water a few weeks before Boston during the miles if it’s not too hot. Her hydration prep all happens the night before—not only with lots of water and electrolytes, but she typically has a glass of wine the night before these runs, too. “I like to relax a little before races, workouts, and long runs,” she said, and a glass of vino helps with just that. She prefers red wine, in case you’re wondering, often opting for an Italian Nebbiolo. (She did, in fact, confirm she had a glass of wine the evening before Boston, too.)
The night-before hydration strategy pays off in not having to take any bathroom breaks when running for hours. “It’s so funny talking to my teammates and they can barely get through a six-mile run without having to go to the bathroom,” she said. “I’ve trained my body to not need water beforehand, because I do drink so much the night before. And then I feel like I’m ready to [run] the morning of and I don’t have to go [to the bathroom] the entire 24 to 26 miles.”
Don’t ignore discomfort and pay attention to recovery stats
and top American woman, said ahead of getting to the starting line that she felt the most injury history and chalks that up to taking a step back when something feels off. “I know that I’m tackling them right away before they become big issues,” she said of any with two workouts and a long run. That allowed her to have a three-day that give her pause. “My biggest thing is if something feels off, then you need to take a step back and reevaluate, and talk to your coach and talk to everybody around you to be like, what do we need to do going forward?”
Her Coros watch also plays an important role in helping her decide when to pull back, Bates said. She looks to her deep sleep stats and resting heart rate to help inform how her body may perform. Even if her heart beat is off by just about five beats, whether faster or slower, she (or her coach) may make an adjustment in her training, she said.
The Minnesota native also gives herself grace, changing her mental narrative when something goes wrong and thinking about how she’d talk to a friend about it. “You wouldn’t tell somebody to run through that if they were hurting, or if they were going through something. You would tell them to take a break and it’s not a big deal,” she said. “[You would say] ‘you’ll get back into it, you’ll be stronger on the other side.’ So just trying to tell myself what I would tell my best friend [helps me mentally get through moments when I need a break].”
Find entertainment on rest days
DAA Industry Opt Out recovery days, she still feels antsy with extra rest time—and suffers from serious cases of the taper tantrums, she said. (She really hates the taper.) To occupy her time, she’ll take walks or hikes up in the mountains near her home. During the taper, she may try new recipes or check out a new TV show while aiming to get as much physical rest as possible.
Bates is also a big fan of reading, often skipping screens before bed in favor of pages of books like for getting to race and keeps her calm when, fantasy narratives that feature dragons (she’s a big fan of dragons), or books of poems.
Make fueling a focus
Considering Bates’s more than 100-mile training weeks, she said she’s basically always eating. “It’s kind of a chore, honestly, with all the miles I’m running, I’m constantly hungry,” she said. “I’m constantly trying to fuel my body and that takes up a lot of time in itself.”
included lactate testing. This meant she spent a decent amount of time on the coffee and peanut butter and jelly on toast. During long runs, the UCAN-sponsored athlete goes for about four gels. (She tapes her gels to bottles so they’re easier to grab on course, but doesn’t drink water with them.) And soon after finishing, Bates usually sips a UCAN protein smoothie, which will hold her over until she can cook a full meal.
That go-to recovery meal she cooks: steak and veggies. “I was a vegetarian for seven years, which is kind of funny,” she said. “I just love steak so much.” If she’s still hungry, she’ll go for cereal or granola.
As someone with celiac disease, which means she can’t have gluten, Bates also has to plan ahead when she day training cycle, like Boston. About a week or two beforehand, she’ll look for places to eat with gluten-free options, so she knows she has an accommodation.
Races - Places and relax, she said. And the more I relax, the faster I usually run, Bates said it’s all about eating similar foods. “I think that’s the main thing in marathon training—just being so comfortable with monotony,” she said—a fact that holds true for your meals and your miles.
Focus on form and come back to your motivation when running gets tough
When determining whether to pull back or keep pushing during the undeniably hard stretches of long runs and races, Bates focuses on her inhales and exhales, as well as how her body is moving. “If I feel like I’m getting overwhelmed with the pace or what I’m doing, and it’s really hard and uncomfortable, then I just try to focus on my breathing and relax,” she said. “And the more I relax, the faster I usually run.”
Also, “if I can’t get down my fuel, then it means I need to slow down a bit,” she said. “I also tend to carry my arms lower when I’m really tired. So just trying to pay attention to where my arms are—or even my knee drive. If my knee drive just isn’t as high or as quick, that usually means that I’m going into redlining mode.” Thankfully, Bates felt strong through the whole race in Boston, she said, maintaining those steady form check points along the way.
Coming back to your internal motivation, or your “why,” can also help you through tough patches. In a panel the Saturday before race day in Boston, Bates explained that she runs because she can, but also for her dad.
“I didn’t know for the longest time what my why was, and it wasn’t until my dad passed away in 2016 that it came into full focus that I have this amazing gift and I have his endurance, I have his legs, I have his strength,” she told the crowd. “He wasn’t able to breathe at the end of his life, so I get out every single day and just think of him. I have the ability to push myself and challenge myself and be the best I can be, and if I inspire others to do that along the way, that’s my why.”
Let being in the moment keep up the enjoyment factor
Of course, Bates loves to push her limits and conquer hard workouts—every pro marathoner does. But she also needs to have fun while doing it. “Most of us started this sport because it was fun,” she said. “And trying to get back to that play mode, [knowing] that this is not that serious… let’s get back to that.”
To do that for herself, Bates tries to run with friends or in cool places. And though she loves challenges, she tries not to pressure herself to run faster each workout or even do better in a workout than the last time. “It’s more like, ‘let’s see what I can do today,’” she said. “My biggest thing is mindfulness and just trying to be in this moment, because that makes you appreciate everything so much more, rather than focusing on the future and becoming worried about, maybe, not running as fast as you thought or maybe not accomplishing something you set out [to do].”
That mindfulness and more lighthearted approach also allows her to remember her gratitude for getting to race and keeps her calm when nerves Boston Red Sox Manager Completes Half Marathon.
You could see her joy shine through in Boston, too, as she blew kisses around mile 6 (to her friends on the course, she later confirmed) and waving to or pumping up the crowd in the later miles.
Don’t forget to celebrate your finish
No matter what your finish time—or your place in the race—finishing 26.2 miles is an accomplishment in itself. As runners focused on paces and splits, PRs and BQs, we can forget that sometimes.
“Even if the results aren’t what I expected, or what I wanted, I still put myself out there and I accomplished a very big thing of finishing another marathon. That’s not something that a lot of people can say they do,” said Bates, who will take the next week off following her race.
In Boston, though, Bates has even more to celebrate than finishing. She scored that top-five finish she had her sights set on and scored the second fastest time for an American woman at her first go at the Boston course. The only thing Bates said she wished she snagged after crossing the finish line? A Modelo.
Mallory Creveling is an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, who also holds multiple other fitness certifications and regularly stays on top of her continuing education in the field. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition for a wide range of publications, and she has nearly 10 years of experience as a trainer and fitness instructor. Mallory stays on top of the latest science in wellness, has worked with some of the best experts in their medical fields, and regularly interviews researchers, trainers, athletes, and more to find the best advice for readers looking to improve their performance and well-being.
As a freelance writer, Mallory's work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, Pennsylvania.
