After being done with community college classes at TMCC for the day, many of them in science, 19-year-old Omar Gomez laces up his running shoes, sets his watch, and hits the road with a new personal record in mind.
“I’ve always done sports when I was younger, and cardio has always been a part of playing, but it wasn’t until this May that I started taking it seriously,” he said.
When Omar first started to get into running, people would always ask him what he was training for.
Jokingly, he would respond with “Life training.”
Now on day 53, Omar realizes this small challenge has blossomed into more than he originally planned.
“This July I wanted to challenge myself, so every day I have tried to run, walk, or hike, and that has helped me to keep going,” he said.
Gomez is now preparing for his first-ever competitive race, as he will be competing in a 10-mile run this Sunday — the ‘Reno 10 Miler And Relay’ hosted by the Reno Running Company.
After this race, Omar hopes it will help prepare him for his next big goal, competing in the half marathon portion of the ‘Rock Reno Half Marathon, Relay & 5K’ on October 6th.
“I love to perform, but I am excited to complete it no matter what. I would love to complete it between an hour, and an hour and a half. If I have to push my limits to reach that goal I will, but my mindset will mainly be to pace myself,” he said.
Omar confesses that his mindset wasn’t always to pace himself.
“When I first started running, my mindset was to distract myself to channel my energy or anger, but now I would say it has become more of a love,” he said.