TrainingBeta Bio: Katy Dannenberg

Enter Katy….

Hey, I’m Katy Dannenberg. I’m the one who has been posting articles on the TrainingBeta blog and Facebook. I’ve been putting photos up on Instagram as well (I’d love to get photos from you all!).

I try to spend half of the year living in Colorado working, climbing in Rifle, and trail running and the other half of the year living on the road in an airstream with my boyfriend Dan Mirsky, chasing good climbing conditions.

I’m originally from Virginia but grew up living overseas for 12 years (Sweden, Germany, and Russia twice) because of my dad’s job.

I met Seth and Neely (founders of TrainingBeta) while I was living in Boulder but actually Neely and I became close friends while I was living on the road- we basically became pen pals. Those of you who’ve lived on the road probably know how nice it is to get emails from friends back home and I’m super grateful for it.

As for my climbing, I still consider myself a newer climber with lots to learn. I didn’t even know rock climbing existed until I was studying abroad in New Zealand my junior year of college. I took a Rock Climbing I course at the College of William and Mary, my home college in Williamsburg, VA, the next year but didn’t get serious about climbing until moving to Boulder, CO.

Once I actually started climbing outside with some consistency I managed to go from climbing my first 5.12a to my first 5.13c in a year and a half (which I partially attribute to spending 7 months out of that time on the road climbing with my motivating, much stronger boyfriend:) ).

A few of my favorite routes: Indulgence (5.13b) and Pussycat (5.13a) in Welcome Springs, UT; Hang Em High (5.12c) and Beer Run (5.13a) in Rifle, CO; Fall of Man (5.13b) in the VRG, AZ; and No Redemption (5.13b) in the Red River Gorge, KY.

I’m learning more and more about what actually training specifically for climbing means. I’m guilty of being one who just went to the gym and climbed (and tried to find routes and problems that catered to my strengths) and thought I was training.

Through this work with TrainingBeta and having been around a lot of much stronger climbers these past few years, I’m finally beginning to understand what real training looks like. And it’s hard! But I’ve seen proof of the hard work a lot of awesome climbers put in and it’s inspiring. And so, I’m psyched to keep learning, and trying, and failing, and growing and enjoying the process.

That being said, most of you that know me, know how much I love to train…

(if you haven’t checked out the Alpine Training Center in Boulder, CO you should) and how I like to try to pack too much in in a day.

While living on the road, Dan and I still try to supplement our climbing with some training. We’ll end a climbing day (before a rest day) with a hangboard session when it feels right. We have this sweet transportable tripod setup for our hangboard that makes that possible.

I love to start the day with yoga when we’re on the road and occasionally I’ll find a gym to get a little strength training in. With some of my free time on the road I’ve also been studying to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

My background is running. I grew up in an athletic family but until middle school, none of us were runners. I’ll never forget the day my younger sister was “punished” by having to go for a trail run with my dad at some awful-soundingly early time (back then at least) like 8am. She came back excited about the run, talking about a log crossing to get across a creek and these awesome single-track trails, stuff like that. I had to try it.

From then on, I couldn’t stay home while anyone else went running. That mentality has stayed with me since then.

I don’t want to sit around when I know others are getting after it.

I’ve run three marathons (PR of 3:23) and in the past couple of years have seemed to focus more on the half marathon distance (PR of 1:32).  Some of my favorite races were the Boston Marathon, which as a runner is a dream race to get to run, and the Durango Double trail 25K and Park City trail half marathon where I finished 2nd for women in both. I would say the hardest race I’ve ever run is the Leadking Loop 25K trail race in Marble, CO, which if you’re anywhere near the Roaring Fork Valley area, you should try, ha.

My goal in the next year is to get a 50K trail race in…

I will be the first to admit that it’s a struggle to be a runner and a climber.

Not just to be those things but to try to be pretty good at those things. It’s a really tough balance. I know that if I could simply give up running, I would climb harder. I believe that. But for me, it’s not simple like that. I love them both too much.

I don’t wake up and go for a run before a day of climbing anymore like I used to. I do usually run on a climbing rest day or occasionally after a climbing day but I’ve come around to feeling ok about it if I don’t. I try not to judge it when I feel slow. I’ve learned to accept that I don’t run because I think it will make me a better climber, and that’s ok.

What running does for me is give me something else besides climbing. Something with less pressure to perform well day in and day out and another way to explore a beautiful area and clear my head.

Anyway, more on that topic another time.

 

Other things: I love coffee, I’m a big sports fan (hail to the Redskins!), I dream of climbing big mountains, I love to take photos, my family means the world to me, I graduated high school in Moscow, Russia, I love a good IPA (especially after a full day of climbing), I think legwarmers are one of the greatest things, llamas make me laugh, I believe nights out dancing are good for the soul, I like painting my nails, I’ve been known to wear stripes with plaid, I believe home is where you start from, I crave sunshine and my heart is in the mountains.

I’m inspired by all of you athletes who are better, faster, and stronger than me.

I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but I think about it a lot.

So, I guess that’s me, more or less. Hopefully the info I’ve been putting up on the TrainingBeta blog is helping you become a better climber or is at least inspiring you in some way to work hard for and believe in your goals. Email me your training/climbing photos so I can post them- katy@trainingbeta.com.