Brentano-Murphy's Adventures

A few weeks ago one of my dad's clients baked what we think was a date bread. Although I am mostly low carb and didnt know the ingredients of this bread, there was so much of it and I didnt want it to go to waste. Toasted, it was amazing, almost like a caramel taste. In all honesty, I found my running for the few days I ate the bread actually improved - I felt more energetic and had more endurance. I searched for a low carb or gluten free version that I can make myself. Carb wise you looking at about 15g on average per date, making it basically your enemy if you are low carb. Rather opt for cranberries - 13g per cup. As an athlete though, dates are so good for you - in moderation of course as 90% of the carbs in a date is sugar. Medjool Dates are high in Potassium (higher than oranges, bananas and spinach), which is great for heart health and to build muscle and proteins in the body. They are also high in fibre, meaning you stay fuller for longer. You also get an energy ...

Sunday, 10 March 2019 De Vos Farm, Midrand Relays are something that I have mixed feelings about. It's hard to be in a team, with the pressure that you might let the team down or if you have a 'weak' member that could have done better. It's great if you win though, the sense of sharing a victory. Once a year the Gauteng club and school relays are held. They are sprint type relays, allowing for more competition. This year ROC hosted it at De Vos Farm in Midrand. I felt a bit disadvantaged having not orienteered here before but luckily my dad had a map from before which I could use to try visualize the area. I got to run the first leg, which I was happy about. I had just come from a 5km Time Trial, so I needed the motivation of the other orienteers to keep me running hard. I also enjoy the mass start. 1. In the mass start I battled to get into the map and find #1. Once I found it I followed the path, but got side tracked by a control before mine (it wasn't ...

This last Saturday I went for my very first hot stone massage, with Dakota. We purchased a deal from Hyperli that included a steam facial at Bodyframe Wellness Boutique near Cresta. With my body being sore from the training and bodytec I was looking forward to a bit of relaxation, however I was a bit apprehensive on how hot the stones were going to be. We started off with the steam facial, which consisted of a cleanse, scrub and mask. For me personally, I love facials and head massages - I can probably book for 2 hours on this alone and walk out refreshed. Moving on to the hot stone massage and of course, being naive I thought that the stones were just placed on the back and left there and I did not know how a full body hot stone massage can be done. The ladies started on our backs first, warming up the skin and muscles through massage techniques. They then did the same massage movements, but with the hot stones. The first time the hot stone touched my back, it sent a bit of a sho...

Last week I decided to buy a new pair of socks, advertised for Plantar Fasciitis Relief, from Feetures . I suffer quite badly on occasion with foot cramps, usually as a result of a fatigued plantar fascia. This worsens when the weather is cold or wet, like it was last week here in Joburg. I have also been using stability shoes for longer runs, as it seems my arch has been collapsing (rolling in), resulting in achilles and calf injuries and tarsal tunnel syndrome. I came across this product by chance on Facebook, on a post of someone asking what to do for Plantar Fasciitis. For a sock, it is on the expensive side, but if it works, then it is worth it. After I ordered, I was contacted by Head Office advising that the sock was dirty, due to some work being done at the warehouse. I was offered to be compensated with another pair of socks and a shirt, which I accepted. When I got home, the socks and shirt had been delivered - super happy with the service from Feetures. I took these s...

17 February 2019 Orienteering Urban Event #3 at St David's Marist Inanda, Sandton I started my morning off with a 10km Club Run at Randburg Harriers, so my legs weren't 100%. It was also a pretty cold morning - the first blue skies and sun we have seen in a week, but there was a cold breeze in the air. We arrived pretty early to the event as we drove straight from the club run, and noticed that the organizers were only just starting to put controls out - this was now at about 7:45. Knowing that controls were still going out, I decided to put my start time as 9:30, just incase of anything. I went to the start at about 9:15 and saw that there was a 9 minute gap between me and the person ahead of me, so I changed the time to 9:21. Starts were then delayed as it was found that not all controls has been placed, despite people already out and running on the course.  Starting off I knew which direction to go as I saw all the women heading across the field, through ...

Stretching is probably the most skipped part of any training plan. Most people feel that when the hard part of the training is done, that they are actually finished for the day. This is not the case though.  Setting aside 5 to 10 minutes post training sessions to do stretching is sometimes more important than the training session itself; it forms an integral part of the session, meaning the session isn't actually finished until stretching has been done. Why is stretching so important?  Stretching helps improves blood flow, helping flush out toxins and lactate acid that has gathered during a hard session. Stretching helps lower the heart rate and has been shown the calm the mind.  Stretching helps reduce pain and stiffness, post session. Stretching helps improve range of motion - imagine if your body had the ability for longer strides or increased leg lift, this will result in less energy expenditure, more endurance and as a runner faster pace. Stretching helps t...