Journal of today’s activities:

I drove from my grandmother’s house to the airport in Long Beach at 4:30 this morning. My flight was scheduled to depart around 7:00, but I need to return the rental car and I wanted to complete some email work in the early morning before the flight. Fog delayed the flight, so I was able to complete many projects on my laptop while waiting.

Once I landed, I looked forward to preparing for the class that I would teach at San Francisco State University. I teach a course called The Architecture of Incarceration and I have 80 students enrolled. The students read my book Inside: Life Behind Bars in America during the first half of the class and they read Earning Freedom: Conquering a 45-year Prison Term during the second half of the class.  Those two books provide a theoretical framework for the lectures that I deliver. In addition to lecturing, I frequently bring in guest speakers. Tonight I had Ross Mirkarimi, Sheriff of San Francisco.

Sheriff Mirkarimi was the first elected official I had in the class. I appreciated his willingness to visit, and I especially appreciated the wisdom of his experience that the Sheriff shared with our students. We learned about the various duties of our city’s Sheriff department and we learned his thoughts about how students can prepare for careers in law enforcement.

This role of university lecturer has been fulfilling, but I’ve decided that this semester will be my final semester teaching. I no longer have the time flexibility to meet the demands of a life on campus, with 80 students depending on me.

• Days since my release from 26 years in federal prison: 241
• Miles run today: 0
• Miles run this week: 32.8
• Miles run this month: 62.43
• Miles run in 2014: 798.44
• Miles I need to run to reach my 2,400-mile running goal for 2014:
• Number of miles I’m ahead of schedule or behind schedule: 141.44
• Today’s Weight: 166