About Vin

I work as a Police Sargeant in Natick. My wife Doris and I met at Northeastern University. We will have been married for 22 years come September. Believe me she has put has up with plenty over those years! We have 2 kids- Matt (15) and Emma (16) who is also a DCF member in the summers. I’m embarrassed to say I have been doing CrossFit for almost 10 years. No snickering. One of these years that 6-pack has to happen. You can usually find me at the 5:30pm class (fantastic crew).

1- What keeps you coming back to CrossFit each day?
The kick ass coaches and my fellow members. I love the positivity and humor they all bring.

2- If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
Anything by the late, great Tom Petty.

3- What is the best pizza toppings combination?
If it’s quality pizza then it should be plain, but pepperoni is a good back-up.

4- Do you have any end of the summer plans you are looking forward to?
Both kids will be in camp…woohoo!!! I am also running the Falmouth Road Race.

5- What’s your spirit animal (an animal that represents you)?
Brown Bear

About Matthew

Outside of Crossfit, I’m a software developer in information security. If you’re reading this and think I’m the perfect person to ask whether something you do with computers is secure, just be aware the answers will range from “No!” to “My god, you’re doing what?” For extra fun, ask what I think about electronic voting machines 🙂 My wife Shena is a fellow Daybreaker, as well as a nurse, and at least for the summer, also an arts and crafts teacher at summer camp! Our 3 kids and 1 dog take up pretty much the rest of my time. I do make sure I have plenty of reading time, though, I’m into most things sci-fi as well as history, science, politics, etc.
2. Tell us about your crossfit journey so far, what have you learned about yourself, and what keeps you coming back?
Growing up, I was very physically active. It wasn’t unusual to put in 12 hours or more of manual labor (where I grew up, they apparently hadn’t heard of child labor laws…). Being fit and strong was part of my identity. When I was 15, I was in a car accident with my mom who unfortunately didn’t survive. I escaped with a broken leg. But the combination of the two things, along with ongoing complications from both, really set me back physically. To be honest, I never really recovered, and have not done strenuous exercise at all in the intervening 20+ years.
CrossFit has been an amazing turn-a-round for me. The coaches have always been happy to help me tailor exercises that don’t work well for me (because my leg is still screwed up somehow). In 6 months, I’ve gone from barely surviving 2 workouts a week, to enjoying 5-6. Occasionally I can almost keep up with everyone else 🙂 I was inspired by the nutrition challenge to cut sugar out of my diet, and I’ve mostly done that now for about 2 months. With the combination of that and regular exercise, I’ve lost 20 pounds since January, which I’m very happy about!
I keep coming back because I want to keep making progress, to get back to being fit and strong as just part of who I am. I come back because the coaches have routinely given me just the advice I needed to learn a new skill, and because the rest of the Daybreak crowd are fun to exercise with, both welcoming and challenging!
3. Are you doing anything fun and exciting this summer? Any plans that you are looking forward to? 
We’re planning a vacation to Vermont next month. It will probably be more relaxing than exciting to be honest, at least that’s the plan. Let me know if you know really fun things to do around Stowe!
4. What’s one of your guilty pleasures?
You’ll probably never see me at the 5:30 class, because I really like sleeping in. Sadly, my kids like to get up early, so it’s been years now since I’ve really gotten to indulge, but someday I will again sleep until noon on a weekend.