Brentano-Murphy's Adventures

Saturday, 7 March 2020 Eagle Canyon Golf Course The first Night Orienteering took place on Saturday. I generally enjoy the night events because technically they are a little easier but then there is the element of it being at night – the controls cannot be seen from far off and depending on the headlight being used, features to navigate off are also hard to see, so accuracy is more important. During registration I noticed that my usual competition was not around, so it meant I just needed to have a good run and not get disqualified. I started last on the women’s course, which I prefer for these events as there is no stress of someone catching me. I was able to pass all the women on my course and come in as the first finisher on the women’s course, confirming my win. Start > 1: Set off down the path, turning left. I saw the hill and went around it. I misread the map and ended up going past the control and almost all the way around. Went back and found the control,...

23 February 2020 The Campus, Bryanston This map has become one of my favorites, because of its faster running nature and not so fast and intense reading. The event started a little later than the other events because of the MyRun and instead of doing a run before hand, I decided to reserve my legs and lay in bed a little later than usual. The weather was at least cool and overcast. I set off 3rd, at 9:47 and was surprised that I found control 1 on the map straight away - a good sign for what was to come. Start > 1: Straight along the path, could easily see the control 1 > 2: Across the carpark, could see the control 2 > 3: Followed the road and fence round to the bench 3 > 4 :Set off across the road, up to the little path and then turned right at the next road. Followed the road all the way along, checking off the carpark areas and seeing where #5 is. It was a long leg and the running speed wasn't there. Had a bit of doubt when I reached the area and almos...

2 February 2020 WITS Campus The season opener for the Urban Series Orienteering was held at Wits on Sunday 2 February. This season seems to have started quite late this year and with no time to find our bearings (no pun intended), we went straight into the complexity that is buildings... I only participated in one Bush event in 2019, so for me its been more than 6 months not being behind an orienteering map, so I was feeling a little rusty. Unfortunately the calf injury I had most of last year has come back, which meant I had to take this event a lot slower than what I would normally. So, on to the event. I got a nice early start at 09:04 - I saw Sarah Wimberley's name down and wanted to be sure I had enough gap for her not to catch me. Everyone seemed to set off in the same direction, down the stairs, which makes the start a little less nerve wrecking knowing where I'm going. I was very slow to find the start control on the map and control 1, and when I did find them ...

Stair Training - a simple exercise of going up and down stairs. Anyone who has watched Rocky knows of the iconic scene where Rocky climbs 72 stone steps before the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A feat of strength and endurance. Many youtube videos show athletes conquering the stairs at their local stadium. But is there any purpose to running stairs or are they just for show? For many runners, training involves long runs, tempo runs, speed work, hill work and sometimes strength in the gym. But should runners look to incorporate stair training into their routine? From my personal experience, yes! Stair training is great for runners and walkers alike, due to its cardiovascular and muscle toning benefits. What are the benefits? With stair climbing, a higher demand is placed on the body, meaning your muscles are forced to work harder, to resist gravity. Your glutes and thigh muscles are actively engaged, which will increase stability and ...

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...