Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 60
Time I woke: 3:00 am
Journal of activities:

We had a magical day today. I woke early to prepare my mind for the excitement of delivering a keynote speech to more than 200 people who had an interest in violence prevention. At 5:00 am I went to the hotel gym and ran a brisk half marathon. Yesterday I did not have an opportunity to exercise, as I was traveling and then visiting with people in preparation for today. I listend to a group of young people who participated in a magnificent program called Reality Changers. I delivered the keynote speech after Julio Marcial honored me with a wonderful introduction. The crowd responded really well to my message and closed by giving me a standing ovation. I had a wonderful, wonderful time and met many people who may prove instrumental in efforts Justin and I are making to build awareness about our work.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 5:00 am
• Lenght of time: 2 hours
• Miles run today: 13
• Weather: Beautiful day in San Diego
• Consecutive days: 1
• Cumulative miles since day off: 13
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

I’m so grateful that God blessed me throughout my life and that I now have so many opportunities to share all that I’ve learned.

Appointments:

Today I met with hundreds of people who attended The California Wellness Violence Prevention Conference in San Diego.

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 59
Time I woke: 3:00 am
Journal of activities:

Carole and I left our home early so that we could arrive at the San Francisco airport at least two hours before our fight was scheduled to leave for San Diego. We parked our car, passed through security, then we sat down to work on our laptop computers while waiting for the plane to board. We landed in San Diego around 1:00 and our friend Justin Paperny Paperny picked us up at the airport. We had lunch together at the Westin Gas Lamp Hotel. While eating, Justin and I strategized on how we would make the most of this conference. Julio Marcial, the director who sponsored the conference, invited me to deliver the keynote speech. We both considered the opportunity as one that could launch our Straight-A Guide product in a major way, so I wanted to make sure that we covered the most essential points. After lunch, we worked for a few more hours in the hotel lobby. Justin introduced me to several people and I felt a surge of gratitude for the work Justin has done to introduce me to so many people who are passionate about the reentry process. In the evening, we attended a networking event where I met many more people. Carole and I enjoyed a wonderful time.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: No exercise
• Lenght of time: 0
• Miles run today: 0
• Weather: Beautiful day in San Diego
• Consecutive days: 0
• Cumulative miles since day off: 0
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

I’m grateful that Carole and I enjoyed  safe flight to San Diego.

Appointments:

Today I met with hundreds of people in San Diego, as I attended The Violence Prevention Conference sponsored by The California Wellness Foundation

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 58
Time I woke: 4:00 am
Journal of activities:

This morning I woke early to complete some work in my home office, then showered and prepared so I could leave my house by 6:20 am. I had meetings scheduled at Stanford University and I wanted to avoid rush hour traffic. I arrived at Stanford around 8:00 am, then went outside for a run. My ankle hurt pretty bad for some reason, so I didn’t run as long as I would’ve liked. I changed in the car from my running gear into my meeting clothes. At 10:00 I began my visit with Professor Joan Petersilia at the law school. Joan has inspired me for many years. I was happy to bring her up to date with the work that I’ve been doing since my release from prison. I provided her with a copy of our DVD set and told her about my plans to introduce the program to prisons across the country. We spoke about the possibility of my returning to school to earn my Ph.D. and about my eagerness to play a role in reforming America’s prison system. At 11:00 I met with Briane, a third-year law student who is organizing an event to bring more awareness to the experiences of people who’ve gone through America’s prison system. Upon my return home, I met with Wendi, the Human Resources director at Golden State Lumber. Wendi helped broaden my understanding of costs associated with running a temp agency.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 8:00 am
• Lenght of time: 1 hour
• Miles run today: 6
• Weather: Beautiful and sunny in Petaluma
• Consecutive days: 18
• Cumulative miles since day off: 187
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

God continues to bless me with opportunities and I’m grateful. Every day feels better than the previous day.

Appointments:

Today I met with Joan Petersilia at Stanford Law School, and then I met with Briane Chanelle Cornish, a law student who is organizing an event at Stanford. I also met with Wendi Storm.

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 57
Time I woke: 3:;30 am
Journal of activities:

This morning I worked with Justin to complete more developments on the MichaelSantos.org website and to begin preparing a marketing package for our products. We’ve identified a list of people whom we would like to endorse our products. With the idea of receiving those endorsements in mind, I wrote a series of suggested endorsements for them to consider. Then I did more work on a proposal that I’m writing for San Joaquin County to consider. The park where I usually run is closed for maintenance this week so I ran a different route. It took me to the top of a Sonoma mountain and I enjoyed the climb. After my run I participated in a conference call with an insurance broker who is working with Justin to provide us with the worker’s compensation coverage we will need to launch a staffing company. In the afternoon I worked to fill out the paperwork necessary to receive coverage for this service.  Later in the afternoon I met with Wendi, the HR director for Golden State Lumber. She advised me on more complications and expenses I should consider before venturing into the business of offering temporary staffing services. We scheduled a meeting for Monday afternoon to go over those details further. Then I went to Wells Fargo to meet with a banker. I need to open an additional credit line to begin building my credit history. The quarter century that I served in prison rendered me invisible to the credit world. I now have three credit lines open, and we’re expecting to see the credit bureaus begin to report on my prompt payments and responsible borrowing by the end of this year.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 6:30 am
• Lenght of time: 2.2 hours
• Miles run today: 11
• Weather: Beautiful and sunny in Petaluma
• Consecutive days: 17
• Cumulative miles since day off: 181
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

Today brought the blessing of another day with Carole being home with me. She was scheduled to work, but a low census at the hospital meant that her shift was canceled. We did not mind. She caught up with her schoolwork and I had the benefit of having her working beside me in our home office.

Appointments:

This afternoon I had a meeting with Wendi, an HR director and Alvaro, a banker at Wells Fargo.

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 56
Time I woke: 4:45 am
Journal of activities:

I’m continuing to invest my time to build more awareness about the products and services that I want to offer. All of my thoughts and actions reflect this 100 percent commitment that I’m making to launch this career. The challenge, of course, is that I lack capacity and experience. Justin works with me in Los Angeles, but until I’ve completed all of the preliminary work, he hasn’t been able to initiate a strategic marketing effort. We anticipate that launch next week, after I return from San Diego. I’m going to keynote an event at a violence prevention conference, and we’re looking forward to introducing our products and services to stakeholders who have an interest in reentry. All of these efforts are new to me and I have a great deal to learn. Our video product and literature is now ready, and we are also making progress with the new service we’re building with the staffing company. I’ve been finished with my sentence for 56 days now, and by the time that I complete 90 days of liberty I expect that I will have advanced the ball much further. Success will not happen by accident. I must continue sowing seeds and nurturing the vision every day.  I feel as though I’m catching up, though I still need to clarify a vision of specific tasks that I will complete in the weeks and months ahead. Every step must lead me closer to this vision I have of building an organization that leads more people into contributing lives. I’m glad to work with Justin at the Michael G. Santos Foundation, and now that our products are ready, I’m looking forward to creating a path to measurable results.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 6:45 am
• Lenght of time: 1.2 hours
• Miles run today: 7
• Weather: Beautiful and sunny in Petaluma
• Consecutive days: 16
• Cumulative miles since day off: 170
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

I’m thankful and grateful to live this incredible life , where I share each day with my wife and work to build a career around all that I learned during the decades I served in federal prison.

Appointments:

Today I did not meet with anyone. I worked the entire day from home.

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 55
Time I woke: 3:30 am
Journal of activities:

I woke this morning to help my wife prepare for another full day at the hospital. Then I went outside for a relatively short run, at only nine miles. I needed to return because I had to spend several more hours writing content for the MichaelSantos.org website. We’re making the final steps before we launch our Straight-A Guide Staffing Solutions subsidiary. With that end in mind, I have a lot of writing to complete our training program. Justin, my partner, has been away on his honeymoon. But he returned today and I wanted to complete as many assignments as possible so that we could work together. Right now we only have the two of us, so we’ve got many challenges ahead. Each day brings new opportunities. Later this week I’ll provide a keynote at a violence prevention conference in San Diego. I’ll look forward to sharing our vision with stakeholders in the reentry community.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 6:30 am
• Lenght of time: 1.5 hours
• Miles run today: 9
• Weather: sunny day in Petaluma, cool evening.
• Consecutive days: 15
• Cumulative miles since day off: 163
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

Every day renews my sense of gratitude for the blessings in my life. Mostly, I’m grateful that I have a wonderful marriage that I celebrate each day. Decades in prison helps me appreciate my wife more each day.

Appointments:

I did not meet with anyone today.

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 54
Time I woke: 3:30 am
Journal of activities:

This morning I woke early because my wife was scheduled to work in the hospital. She had to focus on preparing her school work before she reported for work, so I woke to help her prepare. I made her coffee, then I ironed her nursing uniform. We drove together when it was time for her to leave for work, but rather than driving all the way to the hospital, as I did yesterday, I stepped out of the car after she purchased a coffee at a local Starbucks. I then ran to the park. The sky was beginning to light, so I didn’t feel threatened by the potholes that caused my ankle injury a few weeks before. Then I returned home to write. First I wrote the lengthy summary to cover my class at San Francisco State last Thursday. I wrote about classification systems in the Bureau of Prisons. Then I turned my attention to Straight-A Guide Staffing Solutions. It’s a subsidiary that my friend Justin Paperny and I are beginning to launch under the umbrella of the Michael G. Santos Foundation. We want to become a bridge between people who’ve been released from prison and the labor force. Since employers are reluctant to place felons on their payroll, we are establishing this staffing company and will offer our services to employers who require entry level workers. It’s an ambitious project and I spent more than 10 hours writing lesson plans today. Those who would like to see the work may visit our organization’s website at MichaelSantos.org.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 6:30 am
• Lenght of time: 2.7 hours
• Miles run today: 14
• Weather: Beautiful and sunny in Petaluma
• Consecutive days: 14
• Cumulative miles since day off: 148
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

I’m thankful to God for guiding me through the 26 years I served in prison and for preparing me to build the career that I’m launching now.

Appointments:

I did not meet with anyone besides my beautiful wife today.

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 53
Time I woke: 4:30 am
Journal of activities:

This morning I woke to do my work, but rather than beginning my run from my home, I decided to ride with Carole to her workplace and then run home.  I didn’t take into consideration the treacherous terrain. I’m used to running at a park where the trail is flat and I’m not disturbed by moving traffic. When I’m running at the park, I’m also thinking and focusing on the work that I have ahead. Running home from Sonoma brought real challenges. For one, I had to run on a two-lane highway that didn’t have much of a shoulder. Cars were zipping by me at 60 miles per hour. Besides the fast moving traffic, much of the distance was uphill. The scenery was lovely, but I couldn’t appreciate it because there was too much traffic driving by me at close proximity. I worried about drivers who might be looking at their phones, or putting on makeup, or other distractions that took their eyes off the road.  I also made a wrong turn that extended my run. In any event, I’m grateful to have had the extra time with my wife and to have made it home safely. In the evening I attended a staff meeting with the professors who teach criminal justice at San Francisco State University. We met at the famed Palace Hotel on Market Street. I had a great time.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 6:50 am
• Lenght of time: 3 hours
• Miles run today: 16
• Weather: Beautiful and sunny in Petaluma
• Consecutive days: 13
• Cumulative miles since day off: 134
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

I’m grateful to have made it home safely after a difficult run along the roads of Sonoma.

Appointments:

This evening I attended an event with several faculty members from the San Francisco State University Criminal Justice Department.

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 52
Time I woke: 4:50 am
Journal of activities:

I woke with enthusiasm this morning. Felipe Escamilla, a news reporter from NBC Bay Area news was scheduled to film me teaching at SFSU in the evening. I planned an interactive class, as I intended to help my students understand classification systems. It was going to be fun. My day began early, with writing assignments and then a run through Petaluma that started around 6:20 a.m. I no longer begin my runs in the darkness of the pre-dawn mornings.  I would like to run earlier, but I’m not willing to take the risk of stepping into another pothole, as I did the last time I ran in the dark. My ankle has not completely recovered, I still feel pain when I run. Despite the pain, I’m once again able to run distances in excess of 12 miles daily. I returned to my house and prepared for my sixth class of the semester.  I created a PowerPoint for visual references, a class exercise, and a narrative of a fictional offender. In class, after lecturing on the process of classifying offenders, I broke the class into groups and asked the students to assess the offender. Their objective was to apply the concepts I spoke about and determine where the offender would serve his time. Teaching is a great vocation for me and I’m really enjoying it. I can’t earn a living from the work, but I’m contributing and I feel good about the work when I engage the students. Parts of my teaching this afternoon will appear on an upcoming segment of Bay Area Proud with Garvin Thomas.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 6:30 am
• Lenght of time: 2.5 hours
• Miles run today: 14
• Weather: Beautiful and sunny in Petaluma
• Consecutive days: 12
• Cumulative miles since day off: 118
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

I’m grateful that every day brings more opportunities to contribute to society.

Appointments:

Today I taught my class at SFSU and met with a reporter from NBC Bay Area News who filmed me during class.

Links to publications:

Days since my release from 26 years in prison: 51
Time I woke: 4:45 am
Journal of activities:

As usual, I began this morning early to complete some writing projects. As soon as the sky lightened up, I went outside to begin my run. My wife was out of town visiting with her children for the past two days, and I was happy that she was scheduled to fly home today. I ran for 14 miles. Then I went into town for a haircut. Soon after I returned, Garvin Thomas from NBC’s Bay Area News arrived at my home for an interview. He is filming a brief segment for a news show called “Bay Area Proud,” and I’m grateful that the news station reached out to me. He filmed me for more than an hour in my home. The station will record more footage tomorrow, and again when I speak at UC Berkeley on October 16. I’m told the brief show is scheduled to run on Thursday, October 17. I’m surprised that the station is taking so much footage for the news clip that will only last for a few minutes. I’m glad to contribute, as the opportunity allows me to spread the word about the injustices of mass incarceration.

Exercise Routine-

• Time: 6:40 am
• Lenght of time: 2.5 hours
• Miles run today: 14
• Weather: Beautiful and sunny in Petaluma
• Consecutive days: 11
• Cumulative miles since day off: 104
• Pushups today: 0
• Cumulative pushups for month: 0
• Annual marathon tally: 6

Gratitude prayer:

I’m thankful to God for every opportunity that opens, including new opportunities to reach and influence others about the injustices of mass incarceration.

Appointments:

Today I met with Garvin Thomas, a reporter from NBC’s Bay Area News.

Links to publications: