Darcy Norman, Truckee California

I have had another interesting adventure recently; I spent 5 days in
Truckee, California visiting a great physiotherapist - Darcy Norman of
Norman Kinetics (www.normankinetics.com). I met Darcy last September
at the Tigger Point Therapy (www.tptherapy.com) Ultimate 6 Clinic in
Seattle. I was fortunate enough to cross paths with him again
recently when I was training at the GTC in Pasadena.

I had never been to Truckee before. Actually, I had never been
anywhere in the Lake Tahoe area. I flew into Reno, Nevada and drove 30
min to get to Truckee. That area of the US is spectacular, and I had
a great time training and getting daily therapy after every training
session. Darcy is a real expert in running and cycling biomechanics.
He has been helping me understand how to run and ride with proper
mechanics, so that i use the right muscles. For me, that always
seems to boil down to me being able to fire my glutes properly. I
guess this makes sense when you consider that the glutes are one of
the biggest muscles in the body. Before I train, I now religiously do
running drills and movement preparation exercises to make sure my body
is all wired and firing properly.

You can read a lot more about this in Mark Verstegen's book Core
Performance or Core Performance for Endurance Athletes (Darcy wrote
the section on running biomechanics) or check out the website
www.coreperformance.com. Simply doing these simple exercises before
each workout has made a big difference in my training over the last
month.

Californi-eh!

I have a hard time keeping up with these blogs! Last time I left you,
I was spending 3 weeks down in Pasadena California. I was actually
staying in Glendale CA, and now I fondly refer to Jordan's Uncle David
and Aunt Jan's place as the Glendale Training Centre (GTC). We had a
great time and did lots of solid training. It was such a treat to be
able to bike outdoors in weather that barely required arm or leg
warmers. I had left Penticton in the middle of a deep freeze (-10C)
and was greeted by weather that was consistently 18 to 23 C. The time
down there went by much too fast, and before I knew it I was headed
back home, and Jordan was off to Flagstaff.

Originally I was going to Flagstaff as well, but it turns out that in
my "older " years I am a becoming a real home body and have such a
great support network in Penticton that it is really hard to be away
for too long. Especially coming off a few years of injuries, I am
really careful about being close by to people who can help me quickly
and know my past history really well.

Penticton has been ideal over the last few weeks; spring is in the in
air, and the weather has been sunny and mild. I really haven't spent
a spring training at home for a long time. I usually head somewhere
warmer, but I am really happy to be here this year and am appreciating
very much all the great roads, trails, and scenery that the Okanagan
has to offer.

Not too mention, I have a huge support team here that takes such good
care of me.

Where to start?

the Bike Barn (Chris, Lisa, Will, Gerry, Marcus, Ally, Art, ),
automatic friends whether they like it or not, they can't get rid of
me! And don't tell anyone but in my humble opinion they have the best
coffee in town

Team Impact – Kev , Barb and baby Danielle-best friends, coaches and
triathletes extraordinaire. Team Impact let me drop into any workout
and treat me like part of the team.

Kisu Master's and Age Group swim team. Coach Tina Hoeben, thanks for
putting up with my swimming quirks!

Physiotherapists: Mark Kildaw (premier ART practitioner), Sheri
Shelton (MAT master!), Frank Timmermans (IMS provider)

Chiropractor/ Naturopath Dr. Alex Mazurin

Massage therapist: Dale Maclean, Steve Picton and Chris Corfield

Fitness Trainer: Brent Dobie

Life Councilor: Steve King

I am sure that I have missed someone (please forgive if I did) but in
a nutshell that is my team in Penticton.

Training continues to go well, and I am really enjoying waking up each
morning taking on whatever challenges lay ahead that day. Day by day
I am getting fitter and stronger. I can't wait to race. I am hoping
that will happen sometime in the near future. I will keep you posted.