I was checking back…this is the first post I’ve written in a year.

So why the long stretch of silence? Well, it’s pretty easy to explain:

I’m a busy guy. I’m a teacher, and a busy one especially. Along with the classes I teach, I also do a great deal at school, including sponsoring school extracurricular organizations and working on improving the overall culture at the school. This is not an easy challenge to take, but it takes time… and a lot of it.

Going back to school sponsors, I’ve written in the past about the OCR Club I sponsor. It is possibly the only club like it in the country. This past school year, we had more students participate than ever, including many first-time runners, and our largest single group to date at an event. Something of which I am very proud of.

Despite this organization, I have been unable to maintain training in the way that I’d like. I discovered this when I attempted my first Murph Challenge on Memorial Day. After just the first mile run (half of the distance), 25 pullups, 50 pushups, and 75 squats (a quarter of the rest), I was done. I couldn’t do any more. My wife and her best friend did the “partner” version of the challenge where they each took half of challenge. And they both completed their parts. I felt miserable after not being able to do even the same amount.

Why tell you all about this?

For two reasons: First, it is because I’ve made a personal commitment to myself that I would be honest on this blog, and that includes discussing when I can’t do something and how I felt after. Second, because this blog has been a way to keep myself accountable. While my readership was never huge (and for those that do read it, I thank you), I feel like recording how I do is a good way to keep myself motivated. So I hope to get back into it, perhaps by creating a process to ensure I write here regularly.

So the next challenge: a Disney 10K, followed by aiming for a half-marathon and, one day, a marathon. This doesn’t mean that I’m done with OCR. I am absolutely an OCR fanatic. But it’s time to start aiming bigger. More of this will be discussed further down the line. Let’s see where it goes.

So, here’s to a productive and hopefully exciting summer.