Meet 925 Ambassador: Susan Walp

As a 925 Ambassador since 2014, Susan Walp, always jumps in to provide support as needed, particularly by leading our Habitat for Humanity volunteer events.

I was sickly as a child growing up, so when I became an adult, I made health and fitness a hobby.  Way back, running was a craze and I joined in, running around 30 miles a week or more.  I ran through my 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.  I did some resistance and circuit training, also, during this time and started P90X in my 50’s.  I earned a black belt in Kenpo martial arts and brown belt in Wado-ryu, a traditional Japanese martial arts.  I trained for and ran a marathon at 48 years old and started doing ½ marathons after that.  But, the further into my late 40’s and early 50’s, things weren’t working anymore.  I started having issues with my knees, I wasn’t gaining fitness and actually seemed to be going backwards as far as body mechanics.  I couldn’t run as fast, my back and knees hurt when I ran. I could no longer do all the push-ups I had done for my martial arts training. The P90x routines were stagnant and I could, no longer, make any gains.  Decades of pursuing fitness just didn’t seem to matter.  Age was winning.  I was greatly discouraged, to put it mildly. 

Then one magical Christmas, my son, Nick, talked his Dad, my husband, into giving me a trail membership for Cross Fit 925.  I was excited to have a chance to break out of my rut.  The first few months I was incredibly sore, but I just kept showing up and doing whatever was on the board, regardless of how sore I was. I didn’t even look up the workouts beforehand.  I just went and did what I was told to do.  If I had a problem the instructors were amazing with helping me modify.  The members and instructors were so encouraging, never pushing me to a breaking point but always nudging me to challenge myself.  I loved working out with the people at 925.  They all seemed non-judgmental and to have a great sense of humor.  Being with the community of 925 became the best part of my day. I started out 3 times a week.  After 3 months I was addicted.  I could not believe the overall difference it was making.  I kept adding another day and another day, to the point if I missed a day, I felt like I’d missed out on something big. 

My only regret is not starting sooner.  This is by far the most effective exercise I have ever encountered.  Close to six years later, at age 61, I am more fit than when I was 45 years old.  All the functional movements allow me to keep up with my sons and grandson.  Any exercise is better than no exercise.  But, in my opinion, no other program comes close to increasing quality of life.