2012 Deuces Wild partner competition
Saturday 131116
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The Airdyne of Death from last year’s Deuces Wild
Saturday the 16th
Deuces Wild Partner Competition
We’re taking two teams of two women (Andrea & Chelsea, Alena & Lil’ JB) and one team of two men (Zach & Mino).
Time: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Where: Diablo Fitness Engineering
Address: 2432 Estand, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Website: http://deuceswildcomp.com/
Last year’s Thanksgiving group
Thursday the 28th
6th Annual Thanksgiving Trail Run/Walk
It’s traditional for us to go up into the hills for a morning calorie-burner before Thanksgiving dinner. Bring your friends, bring your significant others, bring your (leashed) dogs, and we will do a 6-9k trail walk or run!
Time: 9AM-11AM
Where: Meet at Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve parking lot. Click here for directions.
What to bring: Warm gear, water, and waterproof trail running shoes or hiking boots (if walking) are best!
Click here for trail descriptions from last year.
We have CFEB shirts for sale!
They are $20 incl. tax, we cannot accept cash or check. Buy here and then pick up your shirt the next time you’re at the gym!
October 2013: Athlete of the Month
Congratulations to Tom Ituarte, CFEB’s Athlete of the Month for October! Tom works hard and beasts workouts every month, but this month, he really stood out. Even with limited resources at our new facility earlier on in October, Tom was fully engaged in the programming and humble enough to realize that even an experienced CrossFitter like himself could learn a thing or two from going back to basics. On top of that, Tom took on every killer workout with a fantastic attitude and has enthusiastically engaged the new members who have come on board since we opened our doors at JLS. Good work, Tom!
We chatted with Tom to learn a little bit more about his CrossFit experience, goals, and music preferences:
How long have you been doing CrossFit?
I started attending CrossFit classes in June 2012.
Favorite WOD/movements:
This is a really tough one for me, but it’s a toss up between Fight Gone Bad, Murph and Bring Sally Up. The appeal of Murph and FGB lies in the mental game. For both of these workouts you can always get one more rep, you’re unlikely to reach muscular failure. The real challenge lies in how much discomfort you can accept and keep moving. But of course that’s why we do this, isn’t it? As for Bring Sally Up, it’s just really fun to squat to audio cues.
Least favorite WOD/movements:
EMOTM for 60 minutes, back squat 5×135# (This is NOT a CrossFit East Bay workout and never will be – ML). It doesn’t have a name that I’m aware of, but it’s by far the worst workout I’ve ever done. The Airdyne machine is probably my least favorite movement right now…does that count as a movement? It’s terrible.
Greatest CrossFit accomplishment:
Coming into CrossFit, I had serious issues with shoulder hyper-mobility. Stabilizing weight overhead was an overwhelmingly difficult experience, every single time. But I just finished “Fran” as prescribed for the first time and even though my time wasn’t the greatest, that’s probably the single biggest improvement marker that I’ve hit thus far. I’m exceptionally proud of that.
Current CrossFit Goal:
“Fran” in under 5 minutes, FGB of 350+, and finally being able to do a strict handstand push-up.
What do you like to do when you’re not doing CrossFit?
Recreationally, I’m an avid rock climber and mountaineer. I’m hoping to make an attempt on Denali’s West Rib route during the summer of 2015. I also play the drums and have been breaking sticks/drum-heads/stands way too often since I started CrossFit.
If you could only listen to one musical artist while you worked out, which one would it be?
At the moment, I’m spinning Four Tet and I’d be pretty damn stoked to hear him blasting every time I walked into CFEB.
What’s your favorite thing about CrossFit East Bay?
You mean besides the awesome new location, right? No question about it, it’s the community. People are warm and inviting, the atmosphere is light-hearted and fun, even during the most intense WODs. When you hear folks cheering for you, it feels sincere. Every time I come to the box, my mindset isn’t so much “I’m going to do something terrible”, it’s “I’m going to do something terrible…with my friends,” and that makes a world of difference.
This week only, we will have a limited class schedule on Thursday for HALLOWEEN! Make sure you can squat, climb, and run in your costume.
3…2…1…
Please bear with us a day or two more. Our full program will be rolled out in a matter of days. We appreciate your patience.
Our Elite Cleaning Crew!
Welcome to the new program. A few things to know:
We are in a state of ambiguity. There are outside agencies (like Oakland Fire) that we must satisfy. We will not know when we have met all requirements until we have. Therefore there is no grid. Once we have clarity there will be.
Meet at CrossFit East Bay, 66 Franklin St. Jack London Square at the appointed class time.
There are no showers and won’t be until later this week.
Sign-up is in Beta Test – please sign up if you can, but it is not required.
We are now doing three-tiered programming – pick the level you feel is appropriate. If you have no idea, pick fitness.
We stand at the threshold of a new era for our gym. CrossFit East Bay is about to open one of the finest training facilities on the planet. This next-level venture is only possible because of the support from the community, and especially the CrossFit community. We are making a quantum leap.
I started CrossFit in 2004 on my own and in early 2005 with the informal CrossFit crew in central park that is now CrossFit Black Box NYC (“Too Big To Fail) and CrossFit Virtuosity.
In 2006 Greg Glassman gave me the opportunity to become a CrossFit Affiliate. I had some 18 months of experience as an Intern and contractor at CrossFit Oakland, one of the first 30 CrossFit Gyms, and was originally listed as an Affiliate under their agreement in 2006.
Hanging Out with Nicole Carroll and Shira Yaziv at CFO MK1 2006
That’s a very skinny Maximus seven plus years ago (2007) at CFO MK2 below, middle hanging.
My present venture started small in 2007, at Ironworks Climbing Gym in Berkeley, CA. Our first workout was “Fight Gone Bad” in their small but lovely yoga room with my Dynamax Balls (I had three!) rowers, Kettlebells, Iron weights and seriously dangerous metal jump boxes. 25% of the people who were with us in the early days are still with us! I would guess another 25% still CrossFit or do related activities.
BIW Yoga Room early 2008
BIW Parking Lot summer 2008
In early 2008 we expanded to Great Western Power Company Climbing Gym in Oakland, CA, making us the oldest CrossFit gym in Oakland (CFO long ago moved to Emeryville). We worked out on the roof for the entire winter (blessedly dry!), an unforgettable experience for those who were there, until a nosy neighbor got us kicked off of the roof and downstairs into the broom closet that is now the CrossFit area at Great Western Power Company.
GWPC Rooftop with “Fang” winter 2008
Emergency move to GWPC “broom closet” December 2008
Initial bulidout at GWPC early 2009
Later in 2009 we had our best-ever competition finish, Appolonia Helm, 34th Fittest Woman on Earth at the 2009 Games at Aromas. Polly will be returning to GWPC to be a Trainer at CrossFit V16.
In 2010 we competed in the CrossFit Open for the first time.
Max and Andrea’s Wedding Day at GWPC, October 1, 2011
We built out CFEB at GWPC bit by bit, until we had crammed a 300-person Affiliate into a relatively tiny space.
In late 2011, now joined by my wife and business partner, Andrea Lewin we suggested to Touchstone management expanding the program to the space next door to the climbing gym, but we were not on the same page, and we began the search for a new space. Many spaces were looked at and rejected or we were rejected by landlords, including Governor Jerry Brown (his loss). After many false starts, my business mentor and personal training client David Richmond (Client ZERO) made the introduction between us and Ellis Partners, lease holder of 450,000 sq. ft. of rentable in and around Jack London Square. They offered to lease us 4,000 square feet of prime ground floor retail on The Square. By this time 18 months had passed since the search began and I had wrapped my head around the fact that $10,000 a month rent and associated expenses did not matter if we created a space that was good for our clients, existing and potential, so we gladly signed the lease.
Today we find ourselves on the threshold of opening a world-class gym. There are logistical challenges, much as there were in our early days. The scale is different, but the philosophy is the same: give us a space in which to train, be it a park, yoga room, rooftop, broom closet, parking lot or a gym with plywood walls instead of windows, and we will strive to build a better and more functional space and program for our members. This gym will be honed like carbon steel, and polished until it gleams. It will be an adult playground second to none. We welcome all of you who will be a part of supporting, co-creating and participating in the program, community and philosophy of CrossFit East Bay. The journey continues!
The Church Of CrossFit at Jack London Square October 2013
Thank You.
Maximus Lewin L2
Founder, CrossFit East Bay