Deals in La Mesa

Joe Decker isn?t your ordinary fitness trainer. He might just be the planet?s fittest human, at least according to Guinness World Records. He earned the title of World?s Fittest Man in 2000 after mastering a 24-hour challenge comprising a 100-mile bike ride, a 10-mile run, 1,100 pushups, and other exhausting feats. Today, his boot camp program, Gut Check Fitness, helps exercisers tackle goals that are just as lofty with outdoor workouts that have won accolades from TrailRunner magazine and the attention of Coca-Cola's fitness programs.

Each ever-changing workout leads participants into the great outdoors, where they discover the true meaning of ?gut check,? a military term used to denote a test of courage, character, or determination. With the help of several talented trainers, Joe propels athletes through a gauntlet of fitness drills that torches dozens of calories and fortifies muscles throughout the body. The classes? main piece of equipment is the earth, which provides hills for climbing, gravity for resistance, and solid ground for sprints and bodyweight exercises. In addition to basking in the trainers? shouts of encouragement, the group cheers one another toward each milestone, fostering friendships while creating an ongoing incentive to achieve.

Owner and head chef Francesco Basile cut his culinary teeth as a young boy in his native Sicily, peeling potatoes and cleaning fish for traditional family feasts. After graduating from culinary school, Francesco broadened his skills and palate, mastering meals of hand-rolled pappardelle at Italian resorts and learning to craft mouthwatering feasts of Italian-American fare at bustling restaurants in southern California. By opening Antica Trattoria in 2001, he built a business dedicated to cooking with fresh ingredients and celebrating simple, traditional Italian dishes, enrapturing diners with meals of veal scaloppini, melted brie with figs jam, and seafood stews swimming in tomato-herb broth. Together with right-hand-cook Eric Ruiz, Francesco changes his menu with the seasons, delivering seafood plates tinged with the aroma of fresh herbs and fennel in the spring and walnut cream sauces and pumpkin ravioli in the autumn.

The restaurant exudes a rustic, timeless charm, with walls of bare brick decorated with tops of wooden wine crates and colorful murals of idyllic Italian countryscapes. A towering china hutch in the rear dining area evokes images of a grandmother's kitchen, and an elegant marble-topped wine bar brings forth memories of a grandmother's secret speakeasy, inviting diners to sample tasty digestifs of fine vino from across Italy and the Pacific coast.

The family-owned Sun Valley Golf Course cultivates a welcoming atmosphere that sets nerves at ease so that youngsters and beginners can make a stress-free foray into the lifelong game. The par 27 excursion politely omits any tee shot longer than 145 yards, eliminating the trepidation felt on long tee shots over water or asteroid craters at larger venues. Nevertheless, small greens and quick changes in elevation keep even more experienced players on their toes and help them to hone short-game technique. The course's short layout ensures that players average less than 90 minutes for a nine-hole round, leaving plenty of time in the day to polish lucky golf balls.

Its simple course layout makes Sun Valley Golf Course a natural place for young club cadets to take up the game. Junior golf programs led by instructor Mike Cortes help kids to develop proper form at an early age through camps, clinics, and classes.

Course at a Glance: * 9-hole, par 27 course * Total length of 1,057 yards from the back tees * Two sets of tees per hole

Shear Illusions Salon & Spa?s Portia Milner has parlayed her experience styling models for runway shows and her position as an artistic educator for Pravana Naturceuticals into a career at the welcoming beauty emporium. She snips and styles strands, accenting them with color and lengthening them with extensions or noodles. Instead of using foil for highlights, she uses plastic wrap in order to get as close to the scalp as possible, which helps the color last longer. Portia also tames frizzy hair with keratin straightening services.

Now working at Pure Expression, hairstylist Linda Knowlton tucks two decades of experience into her beauty belt, including earning an MBA in international business and working as a top seller for Matrix Haircolor. Linda?s styling strengths include precision cutting for all lengths of hair, though long hair is her specialty, as well as masterfully coloring locks to create natural hues or edgier styles.

Spa director Marie Monet, an industry veteran with more than 30 years of beautification experience, begins each facial with a skin analysis so she can customize treatments to individual skin types. Oxygen facials infuse the skin with oxygen harvested from astronaut suits, inspiring cellular renewal and boosting collagen production, and sunless-tanning sessions cover bodies with DHA-infused Fantasy Tan airbrushing products. Herbal body treatments harness the power of natural botanicals such as seaweed to help slim and detoxify bodies. The herbal cellulite body cleanse blends 27 minerals and herbs to help boost the lymphatic system and facilitate disposal of excess fat cells for slimmer, smoother silhouettes. Massage modalities such as thai massage with acupressure help relax muscles after an afternoon of playing catch with a bowling ball.

For more than 20 years, GotCarWash.com has been providing unlimited car washes to customers nationwide through its innovative membership program. Online clients simply browse a list of locations?more than 100 in California alone?and sign up for unlimited cleanings at the most accessible one. But regardless of which location they choose, they can rest assured that their car will be bathed by professionals wielding only the highest quality cleaning products on the market. The teams strip away grime with biodegradable shampoos and cleansers, as well as top-notch formulas, including a special closed-cell Envirosoft Foam, a cleansing foam designed not to scratch exteriors. The cleansing arsenal also includes products like ArmorAll Professional, Mequiar, Blue Coral, and Rain-X?all of which work to protect the car's finish from harsh environmental factors and any birds that decide to hold tap dance practice on its hood.