Thomas is the first priest to become a member at EDCF and I’ll admit that for a while I was afraid to slip out a swear word in his presence. After grabbing a beer with him after class one day, it took me no time to realize that he was a regular dude looking to be coached up while jump starting his fitness journey. Thomas knows adversity well, after a few months at the gym he sustained an injury to his lower back. Together we realized that he had a strength imbalance in his posterior chain along with extremely tight hamstrings despite being a relatively flexible individual. He stuck with the game plan we made for his recovery and is now training consistently pain free and stronger than he was before. I have tremendous respect for him as an individual as well as an athlete. When others would have simply quit, he took his challenge head on. I salute you Thomas, you’re a shining example of what it means to be a coachable athlete and I can’t wait to see where you are 6 months from now!
Here is what Thomas has to say about his experience at EDCF…
When did you join EDCF? How did you find the gym? What was your first impression or how did that first workout go?
June 2015. We’d moved back to Dallas and our first child was a month old, and I figured it was now or never for trying CrossFit. I checked out spots in and around Lakewood online, met with Ryan, and was sold on EDCF. The first workout I felt more clumsy than anything else. It had a strange combination of being tough but also feeling like I might just be able to hang in.
What class time do you attend the most, are there any regular members you work out with at that time?
Unlike most folks, I’m not a class loyalist. I’m in every day, but the time varies based upon my work schedule.
Tell us a little about yourself, What is your life like outside the gym? Where do you work, do you have kids/pets/spouse/partner? What is your favorite hobby outside the gym?
Other than EDCF, my life is mostly work, with family and friends as much as I can make happen. I’m a priest on the team at Church of the Incarnation in Uptown. Elisabeth and I have been married five years this month, our daughter Mary Clare is 14 months old, and we’ve got two Labrador Retrievers, Molly and Paige. Time is pretty tight in this season of life, so most hobbies have gone by the wayside. But there’s usually a book I’m working through at home.
What do you like about CrossFit or EDCF that keeps you coming back?
I know everyone says community, and the community at EDCF is great. But for me, honestly, it’s the coaching. The last year at EDCF has fundamentally changed how I think about my own fitness, and I’m achieving things I never thought were possible for me.
What is your favorite lift or exercise or type of workout?What is one of your short term and long term goals?
I’m one of those weird people who likes burpees. I really can’t explain why. I need to get better coordinated at kipping in the short term because long term I’m shooting to do any WOD w/ pull-ups without scaling. Pretty stoked to do the Memorial Day Murph 2017 without a band. On the less exciting end of things, I’m spending a lot of time working on hamstring mobility to keep from getting hurt.