On March 27-28 in the Oakland Running Festival, Juan participated in the Half Marathon race. Not only did Juan do well in the field of 3500 participants, but he placed 3rd in race with a personal best time of 1:12:59.

In this article you will hear the preparation this great runner does prior to the race. What you will find is how great of a runner Juan is, and how mentally tough he is during his runs.

In the words of Juan Gomez:

Race Reflections

I got up early to eat a light breakfast and headed down toward Downtown Oakland. I was relaxed and ready to run as hard as I can, even though my legs and lower back were really sore on my run the night before. I had my brother Marcos, my race day helper/ photographer, hold my race belongings while I warmed up. I started with a 3 mile warm-up, then my regular drills, and speed strides slightly faster than race pace. And then put on my Holy Names race t-shirt, my U.S.A socks, my marathon racing shoes, and lined up at the start line. As we stood at the start, they played the star spangled banner as we placed our hand over our heart and looked up admiring the U.S.A flag for its beauty and symbolism. Then they called us to toe the line and started counting down from ten, my arms left light and my legs were anxious to run hard immediately. In a sprint start position on front line, I raced to the front with the leaders. I tucked in behind 3rd place as we ran through the first mile in 5:15. Marcos was there to take a snap shot of my split.

As the race went on, by mile three I was already starting to feel it on my legs. My back had been really sore the days leading up to the race and they were pinching my sciatic nerve, but I was not going to let that stop me from qualifying me to nationals. Throughout the duration of the race, numerous thoughts crossed my mind, but I tried to remain positive, so I restated my goals for this race to myself. While I continued to run on my personal best pace for the half marathon, I thought about my goals of getting under the qualifying standard, placing as high as I can in the race, running aggressively the entire race, staying relaxed, and, most importantly to enjoy the experience and the opportunity God gave me to run that day. It is quite common to let negative thoughts creep into our minds, but it is our job to keep them out, especially in race, where it is important to be as confident and positive as you possibly can. So that I did, I pressed on, embracing the pain as I ran through the first 5k in 16:36. Looking at my watch thinking, "I can really do it, just stay relaxed and focused". I continued with that focus as I passed the 10k mark in 33:20 as we ran through Jack London Square, that split being only 13 seconds behind my personal best at that distance. Remarkably, Marcos was there again to take a picture of me pressing hard to finish; interestingly enough Marcos had mentioned that he was too going to run the half marathon running around to support me with encouragement. I am grateful for his support and for the mere fact that he took a memory snap shots of the gift God gave me. But the notion of running that fast while pacing myself in a longer race was quite comforting. At that moment I thought, "not only can I qualify but I can run a personal best today".

The following miles I continued to pump my arms hard, stay positive, and looking ahead to the 2nd place runner in front of me. I thought I may not beat him, but I know if I try I will run faster because I was chasing him. I moved up closer to the 2nd place runner, who came all the way from Boston Massachusetts to race this inaugural Oakland half marathon, as I ran behind him until he pulled away. This feud between the 2nd place runner and I continued until the later stages of the race. I came through the 10 mile mark at 54:49, 1:12:30 race pace, pursuing the 2nd place runner as close as I can. The last three miles were around Lake Merritt and I was the most acquainted with this area, because recently I had done eight laps around the Lake, a 23 plus mile run. After the Lake we ran back onto Broadway for the speedy finish. Those last miles were not any more painful but they were my last shot to achieve my goals and perhaps run faster than I had ever before. On the last turn to the finish, Coach Gomez yelled out that I was going to run really fast and that I needed to push all the way to the finish. I did as coached asked and sprinted as hard as I could, leaning at the finish for a time of 1:12:59, a time that not only qualified me one minute under the qualifying standard but a personal best. This raced proved that I am doing the right training and that I am improving each season. Now, it is time to rest a little bit and then continue to work hard toward my eventual goal of representing Holy Names at nationals by earning All-American honors May 29th at the Marathon distance in Indianapolis Indiana.

-Juan