31 Miles before Landon's 3rd Birthday

I hope you all are keeping high and dry on this stormy Sunday. The storm has hit both inside and outside of the Burgess household, and we're doing our best to strap in and hold on tight.

Let's first give credit where credit is due...my superstar wife completed her first ULTRA marathon last weekend, logging 31 miles through hills, creeks, mud, and five hundred yards of sh*t smelling foulness I can't even imagine (oh wait, that last bit was Andy Dufresne)....anyhow, I am beyond proud of her. She came in at 5 hours 46 minutes, which is a great time for her first run of this length, not to mention this was a very difficult course that had many of our Ultra running friends hurting...so let's all give her a big "Congratulations!" and continue to encourage her as she gets closer and closer to her next big decision...whether or not to run the American River 50 Mile run that's coming up in April...I think she's going to do it, but we'll know more in a bit.

As for me and my running exploits, I've been sidelined for what feels like forever with IT Band problems in my leg, and while I can still go out and log an occasional 10 miler or so, I haven't been able to train consistently and my plans to run some upcoming races have long since gone away. Instead, I'm embracing the new challenge and am doing my best to stay positive as I strengthen my leg at my new gym, and brave the cold in the ice baths I'm taking to aid my recovery. For those that have never taken an ice bath, it truly is as bad as it sounds...I fill a tub with water as cold as it goes, then throw in a bunch of ice...after the first 5 minutes or so you go pretty numb, so that's not too bad...and a cup of hot chocolate really does help warm you from the inside out....but yeah, they are a fun challenge! As you can see, my rehab also includes being a big-time cheerleader for my wife and doing as many 12 oz curls as I can in the post-race celebrations!

Another cool thing that happened this week was the introduction of the big trampoline in our backyard. Grama Dawn and Grampa Dennis got Landon a giant trampoline for his 3rd birthday and Landon's had a great time bouncing around like a nutcase whenever the weather permits. I love any presents that actually tire the kid out, and this one fits the bill nicely.

Other than the big run, the remainder of our week has been dedicated to getting ready for Landon's 3rd birthday. This included getting the house ready for guests (Papa Steve and Nana came in for the event), stocking up on the supplies we'd need, and working tirelessly on the party favors we were handing out to the kids...in this case, Michaela wanted to do something really special for them all, so we made customized superhero capes for each of them (with their first initial and a design on each of them)...they turned out really cute and were a big hit.

I need to make sure to chronicle the special birthday breakfast that Landon requested....cupcakes! Being the awesome Mom that she is, Michaela dutifully complied with his request, but added a little twist of her own and made him ice cream cone cupcakes...I've never had one before (still haven't actually), and since I was at work in the morning when they enjoyed them, I missed out on the sugar filled snack...but apparently they were great and Landon had more than a few...look good, don't they?

The party itself ended up being an overwhelming success. We had it at Wacky Tacky in Roseville, which is the big indoor play area we've mentioned in previous posts. It's a pretty great place to have a kid's birthday party, and they do a really great job of tiring everyone out (including the adults). After a few hours of running around, we enjoyed some pizza and cake and ice cream. For those of you that know Landon well, he's been talking nonstop about his birthday cake for oh, about 4 months now. Basically if you've spoken to him for more than 2 minutes, he's told you all about what superheroes were going to be on his cake, and we had a rather tough time finding the exact ones he wanted....but in the end we got it taken care of, and the end result was what he wanted.

Landon had a great birthday party and we are so thankful that all of his best buddies could be there to party down with him. After the party a bunch of us headed over to Lorenzo's for some margarita's and a little Mexican food before calling it a day...everything hit the spot and Landon was tuckered out enough to behave himself in the restaurant.

As I mentioned earlier, it's been awful stormy here the past few days, so we're hoping to stay dry this Sunday. We may take Landon bowling, or go cruise around the mall for a bit...the one thing I know we're doing is cheering on Arizona as they battle Texas for a spot in the Sweet 16! Bear Down Wildcats!