2010 Year in Review

This picture was taken one year ago on January 5th 2010. It was Don Garza’s first day.

We used to do pullups on the very unstable water pipes:

We had classes on the 11th floor of the Santa Fe Lofts Building. Which meant for lots of Stair climb workouts and popular rooftop WODs:

-That day someone from the 5th floor came up to the roof and said we were shaking the whole building. Everyone hated us! I met some girl in the elevator once,… it was my first time talking to her, when she found out I was the one with “the gym”… she called me an asshole.

So in February I started looking for a new place…. 3 months later and many broken promises of “I found a place! We should be moved in a couple weeks!” I found a gem in the ghetto. This was a video of my second visit to what is now CrossFit Mean Streets. The owner let me in and said “ill see you in half hour”,… I explored with a camera completely unsure if it was secure or not.

(I went into the basement in a diff video… add me on facebook and watch here)
Victor, Don, I, and other members spent 45 days cleaning this place up before we started having classes here on May 1st.

We decided in the beginning we needed a sign. So Victor approached some kids on the street who he thought looked like some graffiti artists….. Needless to say Dennis was stoked that he could paint on something with permission. Although the fact that the gym is located across from the LAPD parking lot was wigging him out all day:

The sign was painted over the next morning by the city’s Graffiti control. I had to call back Dennis for him to do it again, and I talked to the Graffiti control and told them to leave it….. A couple months later it was again painted over by the landlord…. haha.

It eventually started looking like a real gym:

A place where work gets done:

So we traded our 11th story penthouse totally in seclusion for a street level facility that has its fair share of stories.

-We have had multiple instances of angry bumskys inviting themselves in and having to be thrown out.

-On a daily basis we have friendly people walking in usually asking the question “What is this”,…. to which I usually reply “can you guess?”

-Running around the block usually involves running past people that act like they have never seen anyone run before, running through urine, and crap…. We have to watch where we step because there is always something you want your feet to avoid.

But all in all I am happy with the people that put up with the “life” that happens down here,… and I hope the building can stay standing long enough for us to enjoy another year here!

Local Competitions:

Jan 2010 OC Throwdown.

-I was the only person from our gym to show up. Nobody knew who I was or ever heard of our gym. In between heats of this two day event,… I sat by myself watching the others compete. But I was introduced to a side of fitness I always longed for: competition. I decided then that I wanted a gym stocked full of people that would love going to these things.

April 2010: Inaugural Next Level Invitational

-Joe and I were the only ones to show up. I had another athlete to join me,… and some friends I met last competition were nice enough to let us hang under their pop up.

April 2010 2nd NLI

-This time we had 4 athletes competing,… and finally some spectators!

December 2010 3rd NLI

-We had 11 people competing,… and countless support. It seemed the words “CrossFit Mean Streets” were shouted over the loud speakers every 5 minutes, because we had so many people from our gym there.

This January we have 13 people registered for the UTC competition,… I hope this trend continues to grow and also into the Endurance world. This year we had athletes at the LA Mud Run, LA Marathon, San Diego Rock and Roll half Marathon, Ragnar Relay, Tough Mudder, and Spartan Race. They were all a blast. And we will continue to rock Endurance Events with focus and determination with the addition of our CrossFit Endurance Team status.

LAST WOD OF THE YEAR:

Beginner:

Elizabeth:
21-15-9
Power Clean (135/95)
Ring Dips

Athlete:

15-12-9
Squat Clean (155/115)
Ring Muscle Up

Competitor:

15-12-9
Clean and Jerk (185/135)
Bar Muscle Up

CrossFit Mean Streets
Downtown LA