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.  Support on Patreon:  patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/alex-johnson-part-1  Athletic Brewing:  Promo Code: “NUGGET25” for 25% off all orders for new customers  Shop Athletic Brewing Beer  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