Let the Games Begin!

The Olympic Torch is making its way through all of London’s boroughs this week during the final stage of the torch relay. 

My bucket list includes going to the Olympics (as a fan, not an athlete!) so living in London this summer has made me one lucky lady!

Our luck didn’t run out when we applied for tickets through the lottery. UK residents with visa cards were offered tickets before anyone else. So after my lost-wallet debacle where my first order of tickets was cancelled along with all of my credit cards, we re-applied during Round 2 and were able to snag Men’s Beach Volleyball (David is really looking forward to that), Men’s Soccer, and Women’s Volleyball. So watch for us in the cheering crowds on TV on August 4th, 6th and 9th!

When we heard the torch was making its way through Ealing a few days before the Opening Ceremony, we applied for tickets to a local party in the park and won those too! 

So Tuesday evening Jordan, David, and I headed to Walpole Park to see the final leg of the Ealing Torch Relay.

At the party, David and I got the chance to hold a London 2012 torch!  Each runner gets to keep their torch because it’s the flame that’s continuous throughout the relay, not the hardware.

High five, Wenlock!

Jordan and me with our commemorative Torch Relay 2012 Coca-Colas

I sported my London 2012 T while David donned his red, white, and blue and Jordan waved the Union Jack!

Here it comes!

Ealing’s Torch Runner

The grand finale – lighting the cauldron for the flame to continue 

its journey across London’s neighborhoods the next day.

We are counting down the days now until we get to witness the events first-hand. Go Team USA and Team GB!!

Running in the Rain

Last November, I joined a ‘Couch to 5k’ running club.  I’ve never really been a runner, but I thought I’d give it a shot.

Our instructor started our group off with a 6-week program, but then modified it to 12 weeks after sizing us up during the first class.  We met every Thursday but had homework to run at least 2-3 more times during the week on our own. 

November has got to be the worst time of year to start a running regime.  There’s the cold, rainy weather discouraging anyone without a treadmill at home.  Plus the holiday feasts of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and of course all that travel…

So I failed my homework.

In February, to motivate myself to get back into a running routine, I signed up for the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge, a 5k charity run that JP Morgan organizes all over the world.  They hold the annual race everywhere from London to Boston, Shanghai to San Francisco.  This year, there were 595 London companies that signed up a total of 26,000 entrants.  So JP Morgan split the London event into two separate race days.

The Dell London team consisted of 20 racers, including a team captain.  On our race day, there were 13,000 people running in Battersea Park.  We obviously all couldn’t start at once, so when we signed up, we gave an estimated finish time and were split into different groups based on that time. 

The race was actually a 5.6k, not a 5k, so I put down a time of 40 minutes and was placed in the Yellow group (the slowest one).  One of the other women in my ‘Couch to 5k’ running club signed up, also.  But Julie is a superstar, stuck with her homework, and now runs an average of 4 miles 3 times a week, at a much faster pace than me.  So she was on the Green team.  But I found a bunch of other people from Dell at my level and we started off together.  The great thing about the challenge is you get to meet new people within your corporation from other departments that you wouldn’t normally interact with. 

Thursday morning started off bright and beautiful.  But of course when it came time to head to the park, it started pouring!  And it didn’t stop.  (On a quick side note, this has to be the WORST summer in England EVER!  We had ONE good weekend when we took Kirby to the pub, but I jinxed us by writing in the blog, ‘Summer has finally arrived!’  So Summer packed up her bags and left… and that makes me very, very sad.)

That isn’t sweat covering the winner – it’s rainwater!

I toughed it out with the Brits, though.  My group, the Yellows, were the last to take off.  The Blues (serious competitors) started first, then the Reds, the Greens, and finally we were up!  By the time we started the race, the Blues had already finished!  We stood around getting soaked in the downpour for over 20 minutes.  The gloomy weather made the temperature plummet, too.  I could actually see my breath!  That kind of cold in July is not okay.

And the Red Team is off!  Only one more group to go...

Once we actually started, our little Dell Yellow group split up.  Some sped up, others started to walk, but my goal was not to walk any of it.  A 5k may not be hard for most people, but as Billy Madison would say, “It was tough for me – so back off!” 

In the past, my problem was endurance. Before Thursday, I'd only run a full 5k once a couple of weeks ago. Since this was a bit longer, I took my friend Joey’s advice and instead of walking, slowed down to the slowest jog possible when I needed to. 

We were all forced to slow down in some places.  Between weaving through the huge crowd, and the rain, we also had to make it through really slippery, muddy grass where the track ran out.  So once again, I was trudging through the mud for a charity event.  But these places gave us a good chance to slow down a bit (but not walk!) and catch our breath.

Jogging through the mud

And I had cheerleaders to keep me motivated!  David, Jeff, and our friend Jordan all came out to support me!  It meant a lot, considering they were standing in the cold rain for over an hour carefully scanning the crowd of thousands, trying not to miss me.  Thanks guys!

I found David along the Thames!

I also found a running buddy in James, who works on the Dell Services team and also recently joined a ‘Couch to 5k’ club.  

James and me near Chelsea Bridge

We kept each other motivated and finished together with a time of 41:10. So not quite the 40 minutes I was hoping for, but I'm blaming the weather!

Our photo finish!  Yahoo for the race!  Yahoo for me!

Great British Summer

This summer is one of the best times ever to be living in London. First there was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 60 years on the throne. Then the annual Trooping the Colour took place to wish the Queen a very happy 86th birthday. And in August, London will host the Summer Olympics!

Even though the royal establishment is a completely foreign concept to me and I find it very hard to support a monarchy when America’s fore founders fought and died to make America a free nation, I must admit that today, the British royals mostly use their power and money to do a lot of good. Kate supports multiple charities and both William and Harry are on active military duty supporting their country. 

Even with my not-so-favourable opinion of a monarchy in general, David and I felt like this was the summer to start participating in some of the royal hoopla to see what all of the fuss is about. So before we used our extra Jubilee vacation days to head to Africa, we went to a local Jubilee street party. We enjoyed the entertainment, drank some Pimm’s cups, and bought some festive sweets!

The weekend after we returned from Tanzania, we went to Buckingham Palace with our houseguests, Emily and Erin, to see the Trooping the Colour parade. I’ve never even seen the Changing of the Guard, but the Trooping was like the Changing on crack! There were hundreds of household cavalry and Welsh guards marching down the Mall. We arrived after the royal family made their procession from Buckingham Palace down the Mall to the Horseguards Parade, so we were able to snag some great spots on a small hill between Green Park and the Palace gates.

Union Jacks flying proudly next to the palace gates

When the royal family came out for their annual balcony appearance, the crowd went nuts for Kate!  People definitely cheered when the Queen walked out, but everyone adores the Duchess and cheered loudest for her.

The Queen was then honored with a royal air force flyover

After two years of living in London and plenty of opportunities, we finally saw the royal family!  And Kate even gave a smile for David! ;)

And this past weekend, we attended our first British wedding! 

One of David’s friends from high school, Natalie, got married in Exeter.  So Friday after work, we took the train out to Karen’s and then the three of us drove through the Southwest to Devon to attend the ceremony and reception.

We made a weekend trip out of the wedding with a nice, relaxing stay in Sidmouth on the coast.  Devon was just as beautiful as War Horse made it out to be.  We really enjoyed the drive through the countryside and our stay on the beach.

We stayed in Sidmouth at a turn of the century Victorian hotel on the beachfront.  It was a beautiful hotel but we were definitely the youngest people there by 40 years. 

Dipping my feet in the cold water along the Jurassic Coast

Esplanade

Town centre

For the wedding, David rented a traditional morning suit. 

I was so excited to wear a hat to event, 

and so were most of the American girls David went to high school with!  

Kristen, Emily, Stephanie, and Katie flew in 

from the states to support Natalie.

It was Karen's first British wedding, too.  Nice hat!

The ceremony was at a church in Exeter and the reception was at a 

17^th century manor the family had rented for the week. 

The grounds of the home were beautiful

Natalie’s mom, Michelle, did a great job 

planning and decorating the marquee.

The tables were named after Greek gods.  

We were at Aphrodite (for all the beautiful ladies at our table).

The happy couple, Guy and Natalie 

Natalie and her TASIS girlfriends

Mr. Hurst, Karen, and David.  It was a TASIS reunion!

Cheers to the Queen and congratulations Natalie and Guy!