Runner’s World+ Member: Kris Mercado
Kris is a Runner’s World+ member. Join her and thousands of others chasing their goals with day-by-day training plans, expert advice from editors and coaches, and unlimited digital access. We regularly feature members online and in print!
In January of 2019, in an attempt to relieve stress, I decided to try this running thing people talk about so frequently. I’d never been athletic and got intimidated by gym equipment. That day, I walked for one minute and ran for another, and I thought I was going to die. However, I got the runner’s high and I was hooked. I quickly committed to a 5K, which turned into a 10K, half marathons, and in November of 2019 I ran my first full. Training for a marathon has been a test in dedication and patience. There have been many 4:30 am runs when I could have slept in, aches, pains and literal tears for months. Running has shown me that I’ll get the work that I put in. Being a mom, a wife and working full time, running gives me the time to be myself and focus on myself without having to tend to others, if only for that time I’ve carved for myself. Running has become the friend to me that picks up the pieces of my day, and often times, my heart.
I wanted to soak up on everything there was about running, and Runner’s World did that for me. I want to read about other members’ experiences and read recommendations. Now I love looking at recommended gear, and the article about Running Safe last issue has been an eye opener.
Running makes me feel like there’s something I have control over, even if my work day didn’t go as planned. It makes me feel empowered and happy. It’s freeing and liberating. Being a mom of three and having a full time job, the best time for me to run is at dusk. I can see the Las Vegas Strip lights from where I run and it’s beautiful. I like running at that time because it gives me time alone to assess my day and think of my to do list for tomorrow.
Being from Las Vegas, we don’t have the lush greenery some other places might have. I run on a desert trail around a mountain called Lone Mountain trail a mile from my house, and when you turn the corner, you have a view of the Las Vegas Strip in all its glory and lights. It’s beautiful in the dusk.
I can never imagine running more than three miles without my CEP compression socks. They make my legs feel fresh, although some of it is probably just mental.
I got into the Tokyo and Chicago Marathons. My goal is to finish all six World Majors, and do one 50K ultra just to be able to call myself an ultra marathoner. My running journey has been thinking of the next thing to challenge me that seems impossible. In that case, I’m sure I won’t run out of goals.
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