Editor’s Note: We originally talked with our friend Dave in March as he was prepping for the NYC Half-Marathon, so we’ve omitted the specific text about that race in our last paragraph while still pointing to the incredibly worthy live link for Team Fox.
If you’ve been to any Woodshed social events, you may know Dave as the tailgater extraordinaire! While his workout schedule has changed over the years, if you’re a regular early morning class person, you probably know him as the quiet, intense athlete, subject to sudden bursts of box jumps and heavy bag carries.
1. When, why, how did you bring your intense, stable self to the Woodshed?
It was a cold Sunday in March 2015. I stared longingly out my living room window. Yearning. Yearning for something more. There just HAD to be more to this thing we call life. And then, I suddenly had a vision. A balding, bearded man, wearing shorts and a hoodie came from seemingly nowhere out of the woods. On the front of said hoodie, it read “Woodshed.” I knew right then and there it was a sign! (I then called Littleton PD since this strange dude was trespassing on my property) Really though, what brought me to Woodshed was my much better half, Kristin. She had been coming for about a year or so at that point. For me, I had always worked out on my own, the typical gym memberships with Men’s Health magazine supporting my training. But it had been a few years since the kids were born and I hadn’t kept up much of a regular routine, and had put on a few extra pounds too. I really resisted the concept of Crossfit and any type of “group” training, but felt like if it had been working for Kristin then maybe it was worth a shot. I had my intro session with Justin, my on-ramp with Alicia the following week, and from there I was off and running with the 6:30pm class!
2. What was your previous athletic experience?
Growing up I played lots of different organized sports, but mostly baseball, basketball, and football. Baseball was definitely “my sport” though, and where I had the most success, especially in high school (as a pitcher and shortstop). I decided not to pursue a collegiate career, but looking back that is one of my few regrets.
3. How does your work at the Woodshed help you in your other athletic pursuits?
I would say over the past 2 years or so, I’ve really tried to “up my game” and leverage my awesome Woodshed training outside of the gym, specifically doing Spartan races. Back in 2017, I suffered what was really my first injury of any significance, ever. It was actually pretty jarring for me, since up until that point I had the mindset that I was basically indestructible! But looking back, I learned quite a bit about myself, and came out it with a different approach to my training. I looked at it as an opportunity to change things up a bit, and as I was approaching my 40th birthday decided taking on Spartan races could be a really fun thing to do. So I signed up for an OCR training course at a Mountain Strength Crossfit in Winchester, where I met Matt Canning. We did our first Spartan race together in May 2018, a few more that year, and then completed a “Trifecta” (one of each of the 3 main levels of races) in 2019. In 2020, Matt and I have challenged ourselves to complete 2 Trifecta’s, including traveling to several states (New York, Montana, Pennsylvania, and of course Killington, Vermont). I can’t say enough about how much fun the Spartan races are, the amazing camaraderie and friendships you develop, and the great feeling of challenging yourself to just continue getting better (no matter what it is you’re doing).
4. Best time at the gym/your favorite workout and why?
Of course, sharing a class with Kristin is always a fun time, though it doesn’t happen often. I’m more often in the 5:45am class, but one of the things I love most about Woodshed is the ability to slide into any class and know that I’m going to enjoy being around and working out with whoever is there! In terms of a specific WOD, I definitely love squat Mondays, and give me some Single Annie or James Paul any day of the week. Oh, and big box jumps too.
5. Tell us something about yourself that we might not already know.
I love karaoke! It’s a dream of mine to belt out a Whitney Houston tune at Chip Shots and dedicate it to Kaz, with him there. I hope we can make that dream a reality one day (*sigh*)
But for real, one thing folks may or may not know is the passion I have for being an advocate for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. My dad was diagnosed with PD 17 years ago, and his health has gone downhill in the past few years. Here’s a link where you might donate on behalf of Team Fox…
