Ever since my basketball season ended, I have been able to find more time and motivation to get out and ride, run and lift. It has been such a lifestyle for me for the past 12 years of my life and after about a year and a half "off" I'm getting back into it, step by step. I am cleaning the dust off my bikes, oiling chains, fixing flats and thinking about races ahead. I don't want to be overzealous but I do want to get back into racing shape (and look) and do several shorter local triathlons and possibly 2 half ironmans this season. Make sure and check back and I'll do my best to keep my training and racing updated the best I can.

Thanks Mr. President......for the day off!

Lindsey and I celebrated Presidents Day with a long run. We are very fortunate to have my mom here and she was able to come by after work this morning which allowed us to pack up and drive South to the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge for a trail run. The trail is called the Chupadera Trail because it starts in the bosque valley and ends on the top of Chupadera peak, 6.5 miles and 1,715 feet of climbing later. The good part is that the second half is 6.5 miles downhill. I was proud of Lindsey for toughing it out, as it is not easy. We have tried it together once before but had to turn around before the "real" climbing even started. Today, there was no such thing, it was a beautiful, warm day and we were able to finish in 2 hours and 20 minutes. We changed at the car and had some green chili cheeseburgers at the Owl Bar and headed home to pick up Emma. Here are some pictures and I hope you enjoy and leave a comment. Lindsey has been doing really good with her running lately and I am proud of her.

PRICELESS...

Monique and Levi came up for Emma's birthday party last saturday, which was perfect weekend. We couldn't have asked for better weather. The kids played outside most of the day, sunday as well. Emma got a bubble machine for her birthday, which they really enjoyed playing with on sunday. We also went to the park and let the kids play and they had such a good time. Here are some pictures from last weekend:

Happy Birthday Emma! Emma is now three years old....we were excited for her but sad at the same time. Time goes by so fast we wish we could keep her young, polite, and innocent forever:) There is alot however to look forward to in our future. So, I surprised her yesterday at lunch with Princess balloons and gummy bears. She was really excited and happy. She loves balloons. Then, last night she wanted to wear "a gown"! She wanted pizza for dinner so we invited Nana and Grandma Sheila over to eat. Since I am making a cake for her party on saturday, I decided to have ice cream sandwiches which she dunked in sprinkles..she thought that was fun. Then she opened her present which was a Hannah Montana singing doll and microphone. She loved it. She liked it even more when she opened a present from Grandma and Grandpa Burns which was a Miley Doll and another microphone:) We think alike mom:) So, she got to play for awhile and then we left to watch dad play basketball. She took her new hannah and miley dolls with her. The downside...we didn't get to watch Steven play much because she found a class of people who were taking Flamenco dancing and had to watch....she really loves to dance. On our way home she fell asleep in the car...needless to say, she had a good day.

Emma is Growing Fast



Here are some new pictures of Emma (and me). Lindsey does a great job of keeping Emma busy with creative activities that she really enjoys. The second is just Emma being cute and the third is her and I excercising together. I set both of our "carbon fiber race bikes" up so we could get a workout as we watched Noggin together. She can participate in anything she wants to as she gets older but I hope Lindsey and I are doing a good job of setting a good example for her to be fit, healthy, creative and artistic. That being said, I really think she is going to make a helluva triathlete.