Brentano-Murphy's Adventures

19 May 2019 Woodlands Office Park The final of the Urban series for 2019. Woodlands has always been an ok event for me, I've never had a really bad run but I have also never had a good run, I was interested to see what the event would hold for me. I ran the RAC 10km first (in a time of 44:41), before rushing to the event. This meant that I started last - Elaine and Michelle had already finished when I arrived. We had a different start to normal, a bit down the road, with the start control at the entrance to the park/ reserve. Start >  1: Ran on the inside of the olive green and headed off with no actual plan of getting to the control. I ended up by another olive green, before turning left around the thick vegetation. I followed through, deciding to head to the path. Once I hit the path I turned right, following the path until I saw the small building, where I cut into the vegetation, to the control. Hind sight, I should have run to the right of the thick vegetation and...

11 May 2019 The Johannesburg Country Club Another night Orienteering event, and the last one for the year. My Saturday was quite busy. I started off the day by doing Golden Harvest Parkrun, tailwalking with Alison and Rascal. I then had to rush home to get ready and leave for Cross Country in Dobsonville - It was the first race of the season and I was quite happy with placing 5th in the senior women 4km. Rushing home, it was my first weekend of feeding the feral cats at the local business park (there are 6 stations). Getting back home only to rush off again to the orienteering. After being injured and taking some time off I wasn't feeling too confident in my running going in to the event, but the most I could do was try and focus on my navigation. I decided to start before Sarah Wimberley, something that I havent done all season, so there was a bit more pressure. Start >  1: Setting off I followed the path to the junction. I left the path and followed the path parallel...

5 May 2019 Irene Agricultural Research Council Farm My very first wings for life world run.  The object of the event is to keep running/ walking until the chasing car catches you (it starts 30 minutes after the event has started at 15km/h and increases by 1km/h every hour). 100% of entry fees goes towards spinal cord research. The night before I had gone to Monster Jam at FNB stadium, and didn't eat supper and battled to get to sleep. This meant that on Sunday I was feeling exhausted. As the race was at 1pm, I ate as close as possible to 9am, which was 2 fried eggs and a coconut pancake with nut butter - clearly the 17 hour fast did not agree with my stomach as I had gastro soon after eating. I also had a flat panic before leaving home as I realized that I had put on my 2018 license number and not 2019 - this meant everyone had to help me to hunt down my license numbers as a matter of urgency! But we managed to find a pair of 2019 numbers, that I swiftly put onto my runn...

Recently I saw a post on Instagram about Parsley Tea. I have been trying to cut down on my herbal tea and coffee, but with the colder weather it has been hard - and hot water is just disgusting. I did some research on what parsley tea was about and what benefits it has. Parsley is high in vitamin K, C, A, E, and B vitamins. Parsley also provides fiber, iron, copper, calcium, and potassium. But since you don't eat the parsley in your tea, you won't benefit from fiber and you'll get only very small amounts of other vitamins and minerals. Benefits: High in antioxidants May Promote Blood Sugar Control Kidney stones Urinary tract infections (UTIs) Digestive problems Menstrual problems Liver disorders Fluid retention and swelling (edema) Side Effects:  People who consume too much parsley may experience anemia, liver or kidney problems. Having now tried parsley tea, it strangely reminds me of chicken soup - my dad found it 'earthy'. It was not as...

The Wilds Municipal Nature Reserve, 28 April 2019 Heading in to the event, I was a bit nervous firstly in terms of navigation and secondly in terms of running. Running has been my advantage this season and with a recent tendon injury in my foot, I wasn't sure how much strain I was going to take out there. Normally I do about a 10km run before events, but because of my injury I had to miss it. I still went for a 1km warm-up, to prepare my body. I decided to go nearly last - I find I focus better if I am behind people, instead of thinking the whole time of who is going to pass me. I started 2 minutes behind Tania. Start > #1: Followed the bottom path. Wasted time as I thought I had missed the control and was trying to figure out where on the path I was when I crossed the path that led to the gate. I continued going after I though I knew where I was, but it was a very good start. Initially I thought the control was on the right, but it was actually on the left. Easy to spot ...

14 April 2019 Edenvale High School Back to Orienteering in the light and around buildings... My weak point is fast navigation and as much as I like the urban or sprint events, I am actually not very good when it comes to navigating my way around buildings and thinking and planning ahead. If we got 1 minute to just stand and select route choices before we ran I think I would do so much better, its the moving while thinking that gets me confused and I feel I waste time if I stand at the control to read the map. I have been to Edenvale once to help with schools league many years ago, so I had a vague idea of the layout. I was nervous about my speed, navigation and foot - I had come from an 11km run but I feel my fitness has dropped slightly. I was expecting to place maybe 3rd or 4th. I started near the back of the women, I feel its less pressure as I won't be caught by anyone. Start > 1: Setting off I took a bit longer to find #1. Route choice was either left or right of bu...

30 March 2019 Wanderers Golf Course I am going to start off by saying that this event was definitely not my event. I think I have been so caught up in who I am going to beat and how fast can I run, rather than focusing on the actual course and technique on the night. I was not able to find a map before the event, so I did not feel as mentally prepared as I wanted to be. I realized after registration closed that Michelle was not there, so I think I placed a lot of pressure on myself to come first, to get those 1000th points, instead of focusing on doing well on navigation. When I got to the start I put my name down at the first available time, which meant I had 3 minutes before the start - no time for warm-up. I have been suffering with a bit of a foot injury, but I knew that whatever pain, I could run through it. Start - #1: Picking up the map and starting, I was actually cautious and stopped to find #1 - I did not get to see where the other ladies had gone to. Following the path...