The Core Performance Center Blog

Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can. ~ Willis Whitney

Nick Kalra

Performance Specialist

Members at Core Performance Center strive to be the best in all aspects of life.  They train to reach new levels, they push themselves to new boundaries.  Robert Konishi, who has been a member since August 2008, has reached another milestone by completing his latest marathon in January at the “Arizona Rock and Roll Marathon.”

Here are a few questions I had for Robert:

Give us an overall snapshot of how your last event went and how you felt you did:

• My last race was the January 2010 Arizona Rock and Roll marathon. While I was consistent and doing well in my day to day CPC workouts, the same could not be said for the long weekend runs that are an absolute necessicity for a good day on the marathon course. I was very concerned about this.
• Therefore, I was very conservative on race day with the following goals:

1.  Breaking 5 hours
2.  Be running and avoiding the carnage that you see in miles 20-26 of a marathon.
3. Avoiding injury and enjoying the post race events.

• After recovering from a bonk at mile 21, resolved by a gel pack, I had a great day on the course. The weather was beautiful, I passed a lot of people who had slowed down or were walking from 20-26, finished in 4hr 55min, and had a great time.
• While 4:55 is a long way from my 2010 goal of breaking 4hrs, it was the best day that could be expected given the amount of long distance training that I had under my belt.
• While I was sore, I enjoyed the scenery and post race hike in the Sonoran desert the day after the race.

How did you get into running?

• Team sports were always a part of my ilfe growing up and I played on the high school tennis team. I was a recreational runner in my 20’s running nothing longer than a 10K with a 42 min PR.

When did you start?

• In 2002, at age 45, I started running with endurance athletes at work and in February 2003 I ran my first half marathon at the Pacific Shoreline race in Huntington Beach. My first marathon was the Long Beach marathon in October 2003.

What is your motivation?

• I had lost a lot of my conditioning and the competitive edge participating in athletics and wanted to recapture that state of mind. I loved the camaraderie and competition of preparing your body and mind for endurance events.
• After running a few half marathons and marathons with respective PR’s of 1:41 and 4:15, the group decided to try triathlons. My first triathlon was the Ralph’s Half Ironman in Oceanside in April 2004 and the culmination of my triathlon efforts was the 2006 Arizona Ironman.

How much do you run on average per week?

• At my peak, I was running approximately 35-45 miles per week.
• For the triathlon training, I was running 25-35 miles per week, biking 20hrs per week, and swimming 5 hrs per week.

Where is your favorite run anywhere in the world, and why?

• Vancouver Island right outside the city of Victoria and the Santa Monica Mountains at the Corral Canyon trailhead are a couple of my favorite runs. I loved the fact that both of these runs are near metropolitain centers but quickly transition into absolute wilderness where you have no clue that you are near the big city.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced?

• The last 10K of a marathon is always a gut check but the 2006 Ironman was clearly my biggest challenge. Everything, starting with the 6 month training cycle, your training/nutrition plan, and race day logistics has to go right for you to finish that event. Just getting to the starting line is a physical and mental accomplishment. For an athlete at my level, overcoming the anxiety and uncertainity of whether you will successfully finish the event was a lifetime accomplishment.

How has the experience of running (in marathons and daily) changed for you over the years?

• The practices and perserverence that are required to consistently participate in endurance events are easily transportable to success in your day to day life.
• The understanding that you have virtually no constraints in being able to successfully participipate in these endurance events gives you the confidence to try new things in your life.
• The confidence to confront and overcome difficult circumstances enable you to more easily step up and be successful in your day to day circumstances.
• You want to help other people earn and enjoy the benefits of participating in these events.

What are your future events?

• For 2010, my events will be focused on breaking 4 hrs in the marathon, a goal that I failed to accomplish during my Ironman training.

What is your ultimate running goal?

• I have three goals

1. Improve my form, range of motion, and power output in the running, biking, and swimming events.
2. Stay injury free and continue to participate in endurance events and outdoor adventures into my 60’s and 70’s.
3. Break 4hrs in the marathon, 40min in the 10K, and 1:40 in the half marathon. I also want to do an Ironman in the 13hr range.

David Delgado

Performance Specialist

In an effort to fight off the effects of birthdays that just keep coming, I have taken to pushing myself to extremes. I ski steeper stuff now than I ever did in my youth. I started climbing waterfall ice a few years ago and fell in love with the rush it provides and the places it takes me. This year I planned a trip into a remote region that I had heard about several years ago. It is difficult to get to and very few parties have climbed in this canyon, so when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance. I had seen several photographs of this canyon, in winter and summer, and the ice options seemed endless. It is a rugged trip as we would be winter camping. This in and of itself takes a toll on the body and mind. Couple that with long, arduous days of climbing and the long, steep and technically difficult approaches and you get the idea.

My three months of almost daily training at Core Performance gave me the confidence to do this. I came to Core relatively fit, or so I thought. In the three months leading up to the trip, I worked on pushing my cardio and really refining my stability, and improving my upper body strength. These things paid off in spades. Unknown to me, but known to my guide who neglected to tell me, we did all of our approaches on our touring skis. I showed up at the heli with my touring skis and boots. (Ski boots that allow you to flex forward and ski uphill.) He saw them and immediately told me to leave them behind…we would be skiing in our climbing boots! This is called survival skiing at its best. With no support in the boots, skiing is TOUGH, but with all of the single legwork I had done, I felt great and got used to skiing with no support. I had a 30 pound pack on and would end the day (generally 8 hours of approach and climbing) skiing downhill in sketchy conditions and be no worse for wear.

The climbing itself was the most difficult I have ever done. The second day was by far the hardest with a LONG, STEEP and deep snow approach. We skied up to the base of a steep slope, ditched our skis, and then proceeded to post hole in thigh deep snow up a 42-degree slope in suspect snow conditions. Then, once we reached the base of our climb, we geared up and traversed across some funky ice. After all that, then we began to climb steep Grade 5 virgin ice. It was scary and I was questioning my sanity with every swing of my axe. However, my body never failed me even though my mind did several times! And that is the great thing about Core. It lets you go out and do the stuff you want to do…all those exercises that you can’t quite figure out what they are for..they WORK.  All those single leg RDLs saved my rear up there. When I was slogging uphill and the slope would give way and I had one leg deep in a hole with no support, I could count on my other leg to get me out of there. When I was stemming between two ice columns and needed to shift my weight to continue up one, I knew I had the strength and stability to make the move. When it was too steep for me to comfortably ski downhill and I needed to put my skis on my pack and then get my pack on my back all while   trying not to fall down a ridiculously steep slope, all that mobility, strength and stability work paid off.

All in all, this was an amazing trip. A tough, rugged trip. One I am glad I did and will never forget. My guide and I did seven first ascents. And I know I would not have had the success I did without my work at Core.

Julie Tobias

Member since October 2009

Our wonderful neighbors at SMOG recently sent a group of doctors over to help with the reliefe efforts. An idea thrown around over dinner lead to an event that changed the lives of many people here, and saved the lives of many over there. With the help and support from a lot of people, our team was able to perform nearly 20 major surgeries; primarily fractures in the upper and lower extremities, many with complex soft tissue damage as well. And this all took place just over 3 days.

Great work guys, and thank you for helping.

Julianne Erickson

Performance Specialist

Sweet Potato Salad

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 scallions, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons spicy mustard
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 ounces arugula

Directions

Put the sweet potatoes in a saucepan. Cover the potatoes with water (by 2-inches), add 1/2 teaspoon salt, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat, and simmer the potatoes until they are just cooked through and tender. The sweet potatoes will cook in about 15 minutes.  Drain the potatoes, and allow them to cool.

Combine the potatoes, scallions and celery in a large bowl. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, tarragon, salt and pepper, to taste. Toss to combine. Taste for seasoning, and add more salt or pepper, if needed. Toss the potato salad with the arugula, and serve on a large platter.

Turkey Meatball Pita Sandwich

• 1 pound ground turkey meat
• 1 slice fresh whole-wheat bread, crusts removed, pulsed into crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• Whole wheat pita pockets
• Provolone cheese

Directions

In a large mixing bowl add the ground turkey, bread crumbs, chopped onion, minced garlic, Italian seasoning and egg.  Mix together with clean hands until everything is incorporated.  In a large pot add tomato sauce, heat on medium heat.  Form the meat mixture into one inch balls. Gently place them in the sauce.  Simmer the meatballs for 45 min on low heat. 

Cut Pita in half and lightly toast just to get warm.  Add a half of a piece of cheese to each pita half.  Cut about 4 meatballs in half and stuff inside pita.  Add extra sauce to top it off if needed.  

ENJOY!

Jen Freemas and Denise Barry

Core Performance Center will be putting on a Pillar Strength lecture on Tuesday, February 9 at 7 pm. The presentation will be given by Performance Specialist Julianne Erickson, on the back half of the training floor. Come ready to learn and have some fun!

To the CPC Team -

As some of you know, I climbed Kilimanjaro a couple of weeks ago with www.summitonthesummit.com. I found out I was going a month before the climb, so my preparation consisted of 7 sessions at CPC, a few walks and one hike in the Palisades. I’m not a camper, my version of hiking is playing 36 holes of golf in one day and I’d never been above 12,000 feet. While I got knocked around a bit by the altitude, my legs held up surprisingly well thanks to all the movement prep, squats and ESD sessions. I wore my Polar heart rate strap and a Polar watch and even at higher altitudes, my heart rate stayed at the lower ranges of my green zone and I easily got it to drop down to my yellow zone by focusing on my breathing. Understanding those ranges and how my body recovers helped instill confidence as I trudged up the mountain. I made it to the summit thanks to the time I’ve spent training with all of you at CPC since June ‘09.

I took these two pics as a thank you to each of you for creating such a great place and providing me such inspiring guidance and encouragement every time I’ve been there.

Jay Lavender

Member since June 2009

Here is the current list of Century Club members; congrats to everyone who’s made it through 100 sessions or more!!

Alex Kimura

Amit Kapur

Caitlin Lovett

Candace Tomarken

Charles Paoletti

Christine Kwok

David Goldsobel

Del Peeples

Denise Ciarcia

George Billauer

Hilary Laffer

Ian Sephton

Jay Sures

Jeff Scott

Jim Nice

John Circenis

John Raiss

Jonathan Jacobs

Josh Hyman

Justin Bain

Kevin O’Brien

Kirsten Gross

Margaret Bradley

Michael Gerhardt

Monica Modabber

Paige Miller

Pauletta Washington

Peter Cornell

Robert Konishi

Rudy Grimaldo

Sam Jones

Steve Tsai

Sue Ross

Warren Gorowitz

Andrea McCoy

Performance Specialist

Here’s a quick movement prep exercise for anyone who needs to loosen their hips; and it’s especially good for tennis players.

Also, it’s a great video with our very own Anthony Slater

Julianne Erickson

Performance Specialist

Check out the article and video featuring AP athlete, and US Women’s Hockey player, Angela Ruggiero!

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/olympics/articles/2010/01/17/fit_for_duty/

Anthony Slater

General Manager