July Athlete of the Month: Anna Chrulkiewicz

Get to Know Anna Q and A:

Hometown: Bialystok, Poland

Current Location: Conshohocken

Age: 49

Occupation: Associate Dean & Chief of Staff, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University 

College: Drexel University

How long have you been a CrossFitter? Involuntary for last 10 years (through marriage), voluntary for 2, finally believed Tim Hennessey that it works.

Did you ever play sports? Yes, Volleyball, Hand Ball (Olympic sport, not the wall and hand thing) 

Got some cool (or uncool) hobbies you'd like to share?, Dancing, I wish we could use it for warm ups.

What has been your biggest achievement at CrossFit in general? Slaying all the fears like a champ! Fear of tight pants, heavy things, rope, and still working on upside down fear

What skill have you been working on during 2018? Pull ups, Hand Stands, Rope Climbs, chatting during evil biking

Goals for the rest of this year? 5 pull ups in a row- no band, rope descents (I can climb up, not so good at coming down), ring dip (at least one)

What's your favorite WOD? Deadlifts and GHD and anything with diminishing number of reps

How about your favorite food/snacks? Nuts and berries, fish (Bear diet)

What is the craziest workout outside of CF you have ever done? Could there be crazier work out than CrossFit?

What’s your least favorite WOD?- anything with increasing numbers of reps

Favorite lift/movement? Bear Crawl- the only movement I can demo, no one ever asked….

What’s your least favorite lift/movement?- Burpees, I have to sequence my leg movement due to the foot injury, I look like fearful person getting on a floor during bank robbery, gentle, very gentle (and now 30 of those..)

Whats your favorite piece of workout "gear"?- Deodorant

What you say is your biggest improvement since starting CF?- the first time I tried to do a sit up, Aimee had to throw me a rope and pull me off the floor, now I can do GHDs!

Who is your favorite coach? I Love all my coaches! Aimee has a special place because she was the first person to tell me that I can do all of it, and she is the only one that does not laugh ( in my face ) about my iron cross goal, Stephanie, because she always convinces me that I can do more, Tim, because he is always so happy, which is contagious, and he does not believe in my ability to do iron cross, so it is on!

PR's to mention? Goals Reached? Nutrition highlights?.. I have lost about 35lbs since I started. I am also more fit now than before pregnancy (not a difficult task, I was 46 when pregnant- middle aged). I could not get my nutrition under control, I liked pretending I was eating healthy. Aimee did not believe me, she wanted evidence so she asked me to photograph my meals and send it to her. You can learn surprisingly a lot from text messages about nutrition… The biggest lesson learned- accountability. Yes, there was some life coaching involved, it was not just exercise. Who knew…