Here’s the thing: I have a tendency to get overly anxious when it comes to new social situations. I’m the kind of person that likes to know what I am walking into, which is why it has taken me six months of being in Korea to finally work up enough courage to check out the ‘local’ CrossFit gym. I put air quotes there because local in Jangsu terms is about an hour and a half bus ride followed by a 30 minute walk.

Fortunately though, it proved worth the journey. Because Let’s CrossFit Jeonju, like the majority of CrossFit boxes, checks any and all judgment at the door. It is a community space, decorated with positive vibes and slightly masochistic tendencies. You could weight 200 or 130 lbs, lift barbells like they’re made of feathers or stick to a PVC pipe, you could Rx the workout or scale the fuck out of it and no one will give a shit. The only thing  that matter is you, and the effort that you put in. CrossFit is about finding your limit, staring it in the face, and saying: let’s push it a little further.

But that being said, it is still intimidating. Especially here, because unlike in Canada where you’ll find a wide variety of people in the gym. In Korea, it is predominantly male. Specifically young males, around my age or a little older, most of whom have some sort of experience with weight lifting or high intensity exercise. In other words: I felt like a mouse that had wandered into the den of a lion.

But for a mouse, I think I did pretty well.

The WOD, or workout of the day, started with a complex, consisting of two hang cleans and two front squats and built to a heavy max. Since I have not touched a barbell in two months, I kept it fairly light, quickly building to a stable 65lbs which I maintained for multiple sets. This was followed by 3 rounds for time of 10 Hang Squat Cleans – 15 Toes to Bar – 20 Wall ball Shots. I did the first round with 55lbs on the bar, knees to chest, and a 10lb wall ball…but ended up scaling further in the second round to just the 35lb bar for 6 reps, instead of 10, and for the last round I scaled the wall ball shots to 12.

It was not one of my better days, but, to be fair, I am not particularly strong in a front-rack position and I absolutely hate wall balls (as most people do). But if you want to get better, you can’t cherry pick your workouts, and judging by how jellied my thighs were at the end, I’ll be feeling this one for a while.

Though to be honest, I love waking up to sore muscles.
It means that I pushed myself.
And I want to keep pushing.

So yes, I will be going back.