Keira D'amato

Keira's back! Our favorite pro athlete/Oreo reviewer/costume expert extraordinaire is back to chat all things running, training, and moving to Utah. This, after her recent win at the U.S. 20K Championships. Just a legend doing legendary things.

Follow Keira on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keiradamato/

Carrie chats with Emma Bates and Keira D'Amato on Global Running Day! After grilling each other with rapid fire questions, they chat about the joy of getting to compete against so many great American runners, working through impostor syndrome, raising the next generation of runners, and so much more!

Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber sit down with Ben Flanagan, Keira D'Amato, Marielle Hall, Colin Bennie and Patrick Tiernan after competing at the 2022 Falmouth Road Race. We were on-site to provide live updates and do our live aftershow to interview the stars of the day.

D'Amato is coming off an 8th place finish at the World Championships Marathon and decided to make her Falmouth debut in grand fashion with a 36:14 victory over the seven-mile distance. She became the first American woman to win the race since Magdalena Lewy-Boulet in 2011.

Ben Flanagan became just the fifth man in history to win three Falmouth Road Race titles with his 32:25 win over Biya Simbassa. He details how his competitors stayed on his heels, why this one was the most difficult one to win and what he hopes to accomplish with a few more road races scheduled soon.

We also speak with Marielle Hall after her third-place showing on how she's learning more about road racing. Colin Bennie shares a bit about his new coaching venture and why he's not planning to run a fall marathon. Patrick Tiernan is a week away from his wedding and in the middle of a training block before debuting at the Chicago Marathon.

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This week on The Drop, Thomas, Robbe and Meaghan break down one of the most polarizing shoes in the running world, the adidas Ultraboost 21 (9:16). Then, the crew discusses the latest sales reports from the biggest running shoe companies, how those numbers were impacted by the pandemic and what they mean going forward. They also talk about Keira D'Amato's new sponsorship deal with Nike (15:48). Finally, Thomas sits down with Chris Lee, Athletic Performance Director for Tinman Elite, a running team based in Boulder, CO. They talk about the team's mindset and motivation for the sport, Chris' own training philosophies and his athletic background (22:07). Chris also gives his 5 most important post-run workouts to add to your daily training routine.

IG: @clee_performance 

This week our new co-host Justin Liona joins us to discuss the cancelations of track and field meets, Tokyo 2020, the effect the pandemic has had on pro runners, and Keira D'amato's marathon break out.

This week on The Drop, BITR's Thomas, Robbe and Meaghan discuss Atreyu's Base Model V2 (Prototype) and the Brooks Ricochet 2 (9:48) before breaking down Brooks' record sales numbers (15:58). Then, Thomas and Meg sit down with Keira D'Amato, a full-time realtor who is running with and beating Olympians (18:34). They talk about Keira's path to becoming an elite-level runner after a decade off, the pros and cons of being unsponsored and her approach to the sport as a whole. Keira will chase the 10 mile American Record for Women at the Up Dawg Ten Miler, and she will be participating in The Marathon Project at the end of December 2020.

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“I knew what it felt like to be an elite runner and then being a spectator trying to get into shape. That’s really tough to do: creating a routine and breaking through those barriers at first before it becomes routine. I just gained a whole different perspective about running. I think where I’m at now I just feel so much gratitude and appreciation because I’ve seen every spectrum of running in my life and I’m appreciative and thankful for where it is now.”

We might be a little late to the game in getting Keira D'Amato on the podcast because she's been on a tear in 2020. She finished 15th at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2:34:24. In June, she lowered her 5,000m personal best to 15:04 with a time trial on the track. In July, she won the MVMT Race Series in Boston with a 32:33.44 for the 10,000 meters. Most recently, she won the Michigan Pro Ekiden Half Marathon and the Sugar Run 5K over some fields with strong competition. So how she is doing this at 36? She is also a mother and a full-time realtor. 

We unpack it all by starting with her "decade of hobby jogging" before getting into serious training under coach Scott Raczko (who also used to coach Alan Webb). She shares a bit of his coaching practice and philosophy + why it works for her. She walks us through this year's races and why things have been going so well. Plus, Keira touches on vocalizing her goal of possibly breaking Janet Bawcom's 10-mile American record at the Updawg 10-Miler before shifting back into marathon focus for The Marathon Project.

Follow Keira on Instagram.

Episode photography by Kevin Morris. 

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In reality, we have to make time and shuffle our schedules to accommodate all of our responsibilities:

• Kids and family
• Work and professional obligations
• Social events
• Sleep? Maybe?

It's no easy feat to train well, work, have a family, and find some free time to read or have fun.

I remember back to one of the most challenging times of my life: the year after college when I had a 75-minute commute and a 9-hour work day.

That meant I was running 80-85 miles per week at 5:30am in the dark, in the freezing winter of Massachusetts. I had no time to do anything besides work, run, and ensure I slept 8 hours a night.

Now that I have a family, that's not a possibility. Hard decisions have to be made...

To help with those tough decisions, I want to introduce you to Keira D'Amato.

She was a 4-time All-American at American University in Washington, DC, specializing in events ranging from the 5k to cross country.

After college, she worked for years as the marketing director for Potomac River Running and today she's the "running realtor" for the northern Virginia and DC areas.

But she never quit running. Just last month, she won the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Washington, DC.

Keira is running after the Olympic Trials marathon standard of 2:45 - and she's close with her 2:47 PR!

Oh, and she's married with two kids...

In this conversation, we discuss:

• the many roles she's had in the running industry
• what she's learned about runners from being so involved in the sport
• her marathon progression from nearly 4 hours to 2:47 (!!)
• how her current training has gone and her strategy to get the OTQ
• how she manages to train at an elite level with a job and a family