The Urbanathalon! The guys did GREAT! The wives are proud!

The title pretty much sums up this post! The Men's Health Urbanathalon took place this past Sunday and Matt did GREAT!! So did Jason! They both placed in the TOP 10%! Matt placed 111 out of 1137 competitors and Jason was 1 step behind him at the finish line. Way to go guys!!!

The Urbanathlon is a 12.5 km run (that's about 7.75 miles) that includes obstacles along the way. While the obstacles vary a bit depending on the city that the race is held in, the obstacles in Singapore included jumping hurdles, racing up stairs, climbing a wall, crossing monkey bars, crawling through tunnels, stepping in and out of tires, wading through a pool of water and crawling through a pit of mud before sprinting to the finish line. Amanda and I teamed up by spliting up throughout the course to try to catch Matt and Jason at as many as the obstacles as we could. The guys has SO much fun and looked great out there. We're both SO proud of our husbands and you should be too ;) Haha :)

Matt standing in our teeny tiny kitchen before the race at 5:30 a.m.!

The first obstacle was the hurdles. They were allowed to get over them any way they wanted, but both feet had to touch the ground between each hurdle.

Matt is in the orange and Jason is in the yellow on the right.

Look at that great form :)

The next obstacle was the stair climb, but neither Amanda nor I made it to that so the next one up for us was the wall. Again, they could get over it any way they wanted!

Go, Matt, Go!!!

Look at that, he even had time for a smile and a wave!

Jason's turn on the wall. Go, Jason, Go!!

Jason had time for a smile and a wave too! This race was a piece of cake for our guys :)

Next up was the monkey bars and tunnel crawl...

Jason is on the bars!

Jason on the left and Matt on the right. They made it look so simple, when really, I saw countless guys fall off the bars before they got to the obstacle!

There they go just after crawling through the tunnels.

The next two obstacles were the tires (where they just had to step in each one) and the "leap of faith" where they had to jump into a large pool of water and wade through it. We weren't able to make it to those two obstacles, but thankfully, Amanda made it to the best obstacle of all...

THE MUD PIT!!

Approaching the mud pit...

...and they're IN! Nothing like crawing through a stinky pit of mud :)

Almost through!

Jason gets out...

Matt gets out...

Run, Matt, Run!

I made it to the finish line just in time to see our mud-covered husbands sprint to the end!

Just a few more steps guys!

Matt crosses the finish with Jason right behind him. GOOD JOB MATT AND JASON!!

Worn out and muddy after a great race!

For some reason though, I didn't feel like giving Matt a hug when the race was over ;)

If any of the male blog readers want to compete in the Urbanathalon in the states, I think the next one is in Chicago!

The craziest thing I have EVER seen...

Thaipusam. Wow. It took place here in Singapore two days ago and I still can't get over how bizarre (for me anyway) the entire thing was. It was a cultural experience unlike anything I have ever witnessed and certainly educational to say the least. Aside from our friends in Singapore, most of whom also attended the Thaipusam festival, I'm certain that most of you will be surprised by the pictures below...but trust me, seeing it in real life doesn't even seem real! So first, a little background on Thaipusam. Maybe some of you are familiar with it, but for those of you who aren't, please let me be the one to educate you :) I know its long, but I recommend you read all of this before checking out the pictures...if you are just going to skim the info, be sure to read the part in bold!

FYI, I'm copying most of this from Wikipedia, plus adding in parts that I learned from the other day: Thaipusam is  Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community. The festival commemorates both the birthday of Murugan (the god of war), the youngest son of god Shiva and his wife Parvati, and the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel (spear) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.

 Kavadi Attam is a dance performed by the devotees during the ceremonial worship of Murugan. It is performed during the festival and emphasizes debt bondage. The Kavadi itself is a physical burden through which the devotees implore for help from the god Murugan.

Devotees prepare for the celebration by cleansing themselves through prayer and fasting. Kavadi-bearers have to perform elaborate ceremonies at the time of assuming the kavadi and at the time of offering it to Murugan. The kavadi-bearer observes celibacy and takes only pure, Satvik food, once a day.

On the day of the festival, devotees will shave their heads and undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common.

The simplest kavadi is a semi circular decorated canopy supported by a wooden rod that is carried on the shoulders, to the temple. In addition, some have a small spear through their tongue, or a spear through the cheeks. The spear pierced through his tongue or cheeks reminds him constantly of Lord Murugan. It also prevents him from speaking and gives great power of endurance. Other types of kavadi involve hooks stuck into the back and either pulled by another walking behind or being hung from a decorated bullock cart or more recently a tractor, with the point of incisions of the hooks varying the level of pain. The greater the pain the more god-earned merit.

Oddly enough, Thaipusam is banned in India (just like the fire walking I wrote about a few months ago), but is allowed here. The walk they do is about 4 miles, from Sri Srinavasa Perumal Temple to Sri Thandayuthapani Temple. So here we go with the photos...

Prior to making the walk, the devotees made offerings here.

A devotee waits to make his journey while his family members fasten his kavadi (burden) to him by piercing his skin.

Another devotee waits while his family works on his kavadi. Though not visible in this picture, the devotee has spears through his cheeks and tongue making it impossible for him to speak.

One of the devotees in the middle of his journey. Each of those long spikes are pierced through his skin and the mouth piece is fastened with a spear through his cheeks.

From the back...

A female devotee carrying a jug of milk.

Some of them PULL alters behind them while others pull back making the walk even harder. Seriously...OUCH!!

Now this guy was a site to be seen! He had spears through his tongue and cheeks...

...and tiny jugs of milk pierced all over his body. And did I mention....

that he was walking on shoes of nails?!?!

Needless to say, he was walking very slow.

Now this guy...wow. He had a HUGE spear through his mouth and he was obviously in immense pain. He was just a few steps out of the temple before he started grunting in extreme pain (remember, he couldn't speak due to the spear). His eyes rolled back and his family caught him as he fainted. You could actually see the limes rolling all over his back...I could barely watch. Then they got him back up and tried to pour water in his mouth. He had tears (from pain) in his eyes. Amanda was able to capture the moment on video which you can see below...but I will warn you, its sort of intense.

This is his family trying to get him back up on his feet.

Trying to pour water into a mouth that is impossible to open.

Once they arrive at the final temple and make their offering, their spears and spike kavadis are removed. Here is a guy wrapping his mouth right after his spear was removed from his cheeks and tongue.

Women selling bracelets and bangles right outside the temple.

It was an extremely interesting day. To me, it was sad on so many levels. We even saw a few kids getting pierced and carrying kavadis - they couldn't have been older than 12 years old. Just like the fire-walking experience, the whole time I found myself thanking God that I don't have to participate in anything like that to show my devotion to Him!

There are a few videos below. None are graphic (meaning there is no blood or anything), but the last is a bit intense. Just a warning!

This shows a devotee getting pierced for his journey. In an attempt to distract the devotee from any pain that may occur during the piercing, friends and family gather around to shout loudly in his ear.

Here is a devotee carrying his kavadi while on his journey to the temple. His friends and family walk with him for support. Thanks to Amanda for getting this video!

This final video (also captured by Amanda!) is of the guy that was in a lot of pain pictured above. While there is nothing graphic in this video, there are moments that are pretty intense (a lot of screaming).

Our Fabulously, Fun Forest Adventure!

Cara's husband Ali had a birthday last Saturday, the big 3-2, and she wanted to plan something fun for him. When she stumbled across the Forest Adventure, she knew it would be right up Ali's alley! (Ha! I crack myself up!) Unfortunately, Cara wasn't able to participate in the adventure b/c she's pregnant and apparently climbing trees, walking tight ropes, flying down zip wires and swinging off platforms isn't recommended during pregnancy. Who would have thought?! ;) So she called in a crew of friends to accompany Ali on his day of fun and that's where we came in. Matt and I joined Ali and his friends Rob, Sam and Merilyn for a spectacularly awesome afternoon of tree top fun!
The adventure started with a quick safety briefing and then we were off! The Forest Adventure has 4 sites, each getting progressively harder or longer. We climbed a million ladders, crossed over shaky platforms, crawled through tunnels, walked tight ropes, made our way across swinging logs (ok, maybe I didn't do that...) and made a Tarzan leap off a platform way high up in the trees. We had an absolute blast! Thanks to Cara and Ali for including us in the birthday fun!  

All 6 of us ready for some tree top fun!

Matt, Ali and Rob

Sam, me and Merilyn

Cara was so sweet to plan the afternoon and observe while the rest of us had all the fun :)

Let the fun begin!

Matt warming up on an easy obstacle!

Ali coming down the zip wire

Matt about to squeeze through a suspended tunnel

Matt and Rob

Rob crossing swinging logs

Matt crossing the logs. This was not easy! Watch the video below!

Ali walking the ropes

Cara enjoying the fun from the ground

Ali and Matt looooved the Forest Adventure!

This is my jump, Tarzan style! This was the final obstacle of the day and it was SO much fun!!

Matt crossing the logs - not an easy feat!

My crash landing at the end of the zip wire. I never once landed on my feet!

Matt coming down the zip wire

Are we the only couple that still owns rollerblades?

I'm going to start this post by bragging on Matt for a second! He's been gearing up for an Urbanathalon  and has been working pretty hard to get ready. I know with all of the running and obstacle training he's been doing he is going to do a GREAT job. I can't wait for him to do it! (It's next week by the way, on Sunday the 31st...keep him in your prayers if you remember). So anyway, his friend Jason (you are probably familiar with him by now, he's been mentioned in a couple of previous posts) is doing the race with him so they've been training together. One particular Sunday morning Jason wasn't available to do the usual 10 mile run and darn it I could have kicked myself for something I said to Matt just the day before! See I had said in conversation "I'm glad Jason does those long runs with you. Otherwise I'd have to follow you on rollerblades to be your support!" Imagine my surprise when Matt later came up to me and said "guess who is rollerblading tomorrow morning??" So....I did it. I put those stinkin' rollerblades on and accompanied him on his long run. It wasn't without some difficulty...I mean, for one thing, I don't know how to stop so the tiny ramps we came to at underpasses caused problems for me...as in "if that person doesn't move out of the way in 2 seconds, we'll both be on the ground!"  Then there were the loose bricks on the ground that caused me to nearly fall more than once. Fortunately, I made it through and Matt adored me for the rest of the afternoon :)

That story leads us to this past weekend. Saturday was hot and sunny (no surprise of course) and when Matt came home from work the first thing he said is "this would be the perfect afternoon for us to go rollerblading together!" to which I said "ummm...that was a one time thing for me" to which he said "...but you were so good at it!" to which I said "ehhh, just don't really feel like it" to which he said "we can go to lunch first...anywhere you want!"....and I was sold. I can always be bribed with good food. So after lunch we made our way toward East Coast Park, a place that we've been meaning to go to for quite some time now. I must admit...the afternoon was lots of fun! We shared lots of laughs over funny signs throughout the park and over the poses we were doing for pictures. I even made a few videos for your viewing entertainment (at the bottom of the post). I'm sure we'll be back at East Coast Park again...and this time we won't wait 7 months to do it :)

East Coast Park

Matt getting ready to do some pro rollerblading ;)

Gotta stretch first...the sign says so...and I like to follow rules!

...but oh no! Matt didn't bring the suggested safety gear :(

...and we're off!

We passed this awesome, cable water skiing park. Perhaps next time we go, we'll give it a whirl.

Next was a stop at the Extreme Skate Park...where obviously, we did some extreme skating.

Ahhh, nothing like a refreshing drink!

Matt felt this was a fitting pose for the day...

...so he did it too!