And we're off!

To the wild blue yonder! In about an hour, Ric and I will head to the airport for the first leg of our Tour de Africa. Four days in Rwanda (two in Kigali and two in the Volcano National Park) and then five in Cape Town. I did just talk to someone from South Africa who, when told that we were running the Two Oceans Half Marathon, said "You're Mad!!" I guess it's straight uphill... I've been worried about that for a while, but it's too late to turn back, so Ric just needs to be prepared to carry me across the finish line.

We'll let you know when we return and will have lots of pictures to share!

Happy Easter in advance :)

80mph winds hit the coast

It's been a cold and blustery day in London, with hurricane force winds hitting the coast and tons of trains, buses and plane flights cancelled. And here's what Ric looked like on the way to work this morning:





The rain held off for our Merrell Mudman race over the weekend, luckily. It was short (about 5 miles), but brutal. We were basically running straight uphill, then straight downhill for over half of the race. They said there were 5 up and down climbs, but Ric and I counted 7. And they were so steep it was like climbing the side of a mountain or straight up stairs. But we finished and weren't last! Too see a few pictures, go to the website: http://www.sportcam.net/site3/public/search.php?event=787 and enter "Bremer" in the search box. The last photo of me is when I first saw the finish line and was about to pass out with happiness...

Hampstead Happenings

As many of you know, we live in a little village. As such, these are the things that make big news around the neighborhood:

1. They're considering putting a Starbucks on High Street right next to the old, independently owned coffee and tea house. Controversial for the obvious reason, but also because this would be the second Starbucks on the SAME BLOCK. I'm a big fan of Starbucks, but is that really necessary?

2. The butcher closed down after 30 years in business and now no one knows where to get their meat. The only remaining option is Tesco, affectionately called "Stressco" by the locals, but if you don't get there right after a new delivery there are zero options. Unless of course you're shopping for sausage, of which there is always plenty.

3. One of the 100 pastry shops closed down on the High Street, and in it's place will be a fancy new SpaceNK. Not sure if everyone is excited about this, but I sure am.

4. There have been a couple other store closings recently - the "Nuts about Life" shop, which sold, as you might imagine, nuts. And the Pear Drop lingerie store. Not sure what's going into either of these places, but we're anxiously awaiting the new tenants and are all hoping against hope that it's not another cell phone store. We'll keep everyone posted...

Down Goes 10 Miles!

10.1 to be exact, but who's counting? Rachel and I (yes, this is Ric) finished our last long run before the big race, which is in three weeks. Next weekend we're running in the MudMan. One of Rachel's friends Sayula is going to drive us down to Surrey (think Westchester County of London) for the race. Then the following Friday we're off on our trip to Africa!