EP 47: Alex Johnson (Part 1) — An Olympic Dream, the Art of Failure, and Thriving in Your Own Skin

Alex Johnson is a two-time world cup gold medalist and has been climbing at a professional level for a decade. We talked about sieging ‘The Swarm’ V13, her effort to qualify for the Olympics, telling an honest story, failing publicly, lessons from coaching, coming out as LGBTQ, learning about self-love from her partner Bree, and becoming a role model.  

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patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  

Show Notes:  

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/alex-johnson-part-1  

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Nuggets:  

4:09 – Mr. Golden Sun  

7:40 – Googly eyed elephant  

8:36 – Fritz  

10:50 – An amazing day in Yosemite with Fritz  

13:06 – The 100 V10’s goal, and Alex’s approach to climbing  

18:33 – Balancing hard projecting with volume  

22:10 – Obsession over a single project, and volume bouldering games  

26:06 – The Swarm, trying to qualify for the Olympics, and the vulnerability of failing publically  

32:58 – Storytelling and sharing training ideas on social media, and starting to work with Dr. Tyler Nelson  

39:45 – Comps vs. outdoor climbing, and “my heart is in rock climbing”  

44:38 – Moving back home to coach, and how coaching lead AJ back to competing  

49:36 – Practice vs. training vs. performance  

52:26 – Balancing practice, training, and performance, and “going to the gym is practice”  

55:00 – Practice drills, and working a boulder to learn vs. to send  

1:00:13 – Combining training and practice sessions on the same day, 6x2s, and mock comp days  

1:02:39 – “Always with intension”, lone-wolf garage sessions, and the vulnerability of training  

1:06:40 – AJ’s go-to exercises on the home wall, and “You have to try hard to try hard”  

1:09:47 – Coming out, Bree’s quote, and being a role model  

1:19:04 – “Be who you needed when you were younger.”  

1:19:19 – Gus Kenworthy  

1:24:49 – Bree  

1:28:56 – Learning about self-love