On Sunghee
The year was 1997. For our first date I took HeeHee to Lynn Canyon. It all went well enough as we followed the trail down to the water’s edge. But when we started back up the stairs I grew concerned that we might not be able to make it out of the canyon. It turned out that my future bride detested physical activity and had grow up in a culture that discouraged women from pursuing fitness and exercise. Every few steps she needed to stop to catch her breath to the point that I grew concerned about her health wondering if I might need to carry her out of there. I was twenty-four, she was twenty-nine.
Hooked on CrossFit
Fast forward to 2009, our son was already seven years old, but HeeHee’s body had not recovered from giving birth. Unhappy with how she looked and felt she agreed to try a free CrossFit intro session with Coach Shep at CrossFit Vancouver. I stayed home to take care of our son all the while worrying how my sports-averse wife would respond to the intensity of a CrossFit workout.
“So, how was it?” I asked when she returned home.
Her face lit up, “I puked. It was awesome!”
And just like that she was hooked. Don’t ask me, I don’t understand it either. Puking and awesome are not two words I ever used together in a sentence, but HeeHee said that the experience had left her feeling cleansed. She signed up for her one-on-one beginner’s program with Coach Shep. For a woman who had avoided exercise most of her life, every workout was a battle. She clearly did not possess the strength or conditioning of the average CrossFit Vancouver member. She was also, by this time forty-two years old which was a good decade older than the typical CrossFit Vancouver demographic at that time.
She showed up and worked hard
After her final beginner’s session workout, Fight Gone Bad, Coach Shep was surprised when she asked to purchase a one-year group class membership. “Are you sure?” he asked, doubtful that his struggling student would want to continue the torture.
But HeeHee was hooked. And if she lacked physical strength, she did not lack mental fortitude and determination. She didn’t have push ups. Not even knee push ups. Pull ups appeared an impossible dream. But she showed up, and she worked hard and through the years she remained consistent. If you’ve trained with her in the gym, you know that today, only a couple years shy of her sixtieth birthday, HeeHee has pull ups, she has strong rope climbs and fantastic push ups (I’ve seen her do 20 consecutive good reps during WODs).
Through CrossFit she has built a strong, healthy body that she feels good about and that allows her to do whatever she wants to do in life. Strength is empowering. She has also discovered a love for movement and now lives a very active lifestyle that twenty-nine-year-old HeeHee could never have imagined.
Outperforming the boys
Attending The Touch’s Fight Fit program, HeeHee was the only woman and half a decade older than the next oldest attendee but, when The Touch challenged us to a max chin-over-bar hold, she outlasted all the men, The Touch included, holding on for 90 seconds.
At our Monday night date night at kickboxing, where most of the class is at least a quarter century younger than us, our instructor Avesta challenged the class to a 3 minute plank hold. HeeHee was one of only four in a class of about twenty to complete all 3 minutes.
On Wednesday of the same week, HeeHee came to Leon’s Jiu Jitsu class with me. So far, she had only attended the women’s only class. This was her first time grappling with men. Again, the oldest of them half a decade her junior. My training partners could not stop exclaiming how strong she was. Strong and aggressive. They had no way to tell by her petite frame or friendly demeanour how savage and physically tough she is.
The joy of "unladylike" activities
It made me very proud. CrossFit has been so transformational and provided access to experiences beyond anything that her twenty-nine-year-old self could have imagined. And she glows with the joy she derives from these unladylike activities. And would you believe that almost 30 years later, she weighs the same as when we first met?
The fun, fulfilling life we continue to share 29 years after that first date is a gift for which we thank CrossFit everyday. Health and fitness make so much possible. As they say about CrossFit: ‘It’s not easy, but it’s worth it’. We would like to share the joy of health and fitness with anyone else who shares the desire to live their best life enjoying their best body.
