In 2013, I was trying to figure out the best climbing training program for myself using all the info I could find online and in books. I got really confused.
So my husband, Seth, and I brainstormed, and that was when TrainingBeta was born. Seth is an integral part of TrainingBeta, too. He’s the behind the scenes technical guy.
We started TrainingBeta because…
We wanted a one-stop shop for all things training related, including really good articles on training, interviews with people who actually know what they’re talking about, easy-to-follow training programs, and training videos.
We started collecting all of that information in the form of our blog, our training programs, online personal training, the podcast, and our training videos. I also put my nutrition knowledge to use by offering climbers nutrition consulting.
My Story
I started climbing, as everyone does, struggling up 5.8’s, 5.9’s, and then finally 5.10’s. Back then, I was an angrier person – I had lots of family stuff going on and teenage angst – and climbing was an outlet for that. It also was the only sport I ever displayed any skill in whatsoever, and it provided me a way of exercising, since all other exercise seemed like torture. I’d finally found my thing. Maybe you can relate.
me on Vision Thing in Rifle (I’ve spent way too much time there…)
Through climbing and my motivation to be good at it, I lost my freshman 15…er… 30. And I gained confidence and new friends. And boyfriends – lots of boyfriends. I moved beyond 5.10’s and I started climbing 5.11’s – my first one was in Wild Iris, Wyoming. Then I started climbing 5.12’s – my first 5.12a was in El Potrero Chico, Mexico. Then I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to be with one of those boyfriends, and I discovered Rifle Mountain Park and eventually did my first 5.13a.
My progress was slow but steady.
Me on The Gift in Red Rock, Nevada. Photo by Jonathan Siegrist.
In the meantime, I was struggling with health issues and learning how to get rid of each issue one by one through nutrition and natural medicine. I became a Certified Integrative Clinical Nutrition Therapist in 2007, and I’ve been practicing ever since. My health has improved drastically, and my climbing benefitted from it, as well.
In 2010 I did my first 5.13c. It was in Rifle the summer after I’d been training with a coach all winter and spring (Chris Wall in Boulder, CO), and I’d lost a little weight the way climbers do: a bit anorexically. Not eating enough made me really grumpy and light-headed, but I’ve never felt stronger as a climber. And I haven’t climbed that hard since that summer.
So what was it? The coaching? The weight loss? I wanted to ask the strongest people I know to tell me their opinions on it all, and what works for them… and why. I wanted to ask them the tough questions that I don’t ever hear in interviews, like, “How did you get so thin, and how is that affecting your climbing? But what about your health?”
I hope you enjoy the site!
I hope that being a vehicle for this information helps you learn some things from these amazing, generous climbers, just as I’m learning from them myself. You can find info on the Podcast, in the Blog, on the Training Videos, and in our Training Programs.
Thanks for visiting the site, and maybe I’ll see you out there sometime!
