Written by Eric Epstein

Freshman biology teacher Joshua Little is currently training for a half-marathon he plans to run in mid-January. Little used to stay active by swimming but has not been swimming as much recently. “I was a swimmer in high school, and for a year in college, so I really love to swim,” Little said. “I just don’t do it as often anymore.”

Little picked up running earlier this year, influenced by friends.“I have been running since June,” Little said. “I run with two other friends that are teachers from another school, and that’s just a way for us to hang out, but then also to keep me motivated to keep training. Running is also easier to do than swimming because all you have to do is throw on a pair of shorts and shoes, whereas you actually have to go the pool if you want to swim.”

Besides trekking the long journey from his classroom in the village to the main part of campus multiple times a day, Little trains for his half-marathon in accordance to a suggested training regiment. “There’s a 16-week training guide where you run three to four times a week,” Little said. “I started with running a mile, but now I’ve moved to doing five or six miles every other day.”

Little’s favorite part of running is the satisfaction from staying active. “When I was sick, it felt like, ‘Aw, I’m just going to be on the couch all day,’ and that sounds nice at first, but when you get up to go to work, you just feel tired,” he said. “When you get back into running, you just feel like you can tackle any problem and that you can do anything.”

In the future, Little hopes to stay resilient and continue running. He values persistence and finds small victories based on his accomplishments. “My goal for running in the future is just to stick with it,” Little said. “I don’t need to be the fastest person; it’s really just a personal goal to always improve my times with each race.”

-Epstein, a junior, is the Business Manager