65: Lučka Rakovec, Slovenian Lead Climber

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839
got to the doctors and they did the like biopsy

00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:07.559
on of the thyroid gland and yeah then they told

00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:12.339
me i have cancer the dyno in the route is quite

00:00:12.339 --> 00:00:16.699
yeah intimidating it's still it still gets to

00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:21.239
me every time i don't know so i have a crazy

00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:24.219
fear of throwing up so it's like oh my gosh me

00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:29.359
too yeah I don't know anyone else who has that,

00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:34.799
really. Yeah, that's me. Especially for me, after

00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:40.240
the health issues, it's nice for me to have somebody

00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:45.929
in my bubble. Welcome to another episode of the

00:00:45.929 --> 00:00:48.590
That's Not World Climbing podcast. I'm your host,

00:00:48.689 --> 00:00:50.590
Jinni, and I'm excited to introduce my guest

00:00:50.590 --> 00:00:54.409
for today, Lucka Rakovec. Lucka is a lead climber

00:00:54.409 --> 00:00:56.770
from Slovenia who recently won bronze at the

00:00:56.770 --> 00:00:59.369
European Championships and came back to the world

00:00:59.369 --> 00:01:01.850
climbing scene after undergoing cancer -removing

00:01:01.850 --> 00:01:05.590
surgery in 2025. In this episode, we'll hear

00:01:05.590 --> 00:01:08.269
about how her cancer diagnosis affected her climbing,

00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:11.109
training, and mental health. We'll learn about

00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:14.189
the Slovenian team. And we'll put together a

00:01:14.189 --> 00:01:16.590
tier list for the worst things that can happen

00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:19.469
in a lead comp. I hope you enjoy this episode

00:01:19.469 --> 00:01:31.260
with Lucka. Please pardon this brief intermission,

00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:34.359
but let me tell you about Mad Rock's Remora Pro.

00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:37.599
You can now see several pros wearing Mad Rock

00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:41.060
shoes during competitions, and here's why. If

00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:43.120
you like being able to feel the chips you're

00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.879
standing on, and you like not having to worry

00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:49.620
about standing on sketchy volumes, then the Remora

00:01:49.620 --> 00:01:52.680
Pro is Mad Rock's softest, aggressive shoe offering.

00:01:53.019 --> 00:01:56.200
They also have a crazy 3D heel that allows you

00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:59.540
to get more surface area when heel hooking, inserts

00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:02.340
that lock your heel into the shoe no matter how

00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:06.180
hard you're pulling feel free to message me if

00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:08.919
you have any questions about the shoes or sizing

00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:12.120
and you can use the discount code not real climber

00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:16.180
for 10 off your entire mad rock order thank you

00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:18.620
to mad rock for helping to sponsor this podcast

00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:21.520
now back to the show how are you doing today

00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.810
are you getting ready for european champs Yeah,

00:02:24.889 --> 00:02:28.169
I had some yesterday or two days ago. I kind

00:02:28.169 --> 00:02:32.110
of injured my finger. So maybe I will have to

00:02:32.110 --> 00:02:34.009
skip it. I don't know yet because I'm not sure

00:02:34.009 --> 00:02:37.310
yet what's wrong with it. So we will see. How

00:02:37.310 --> 00:02:39.449
did it happen? I don't know. I was just climbing

00:02:39.449 --> 00:02:41.949
a route like pretty normally and nothing like

00:02:41.949 --> 00:02:45.969
popped or anything. I just felt like weird pain.

00:02:46.769 --> 00:02:48.889
And now, like, I have a piece of something in

00:02:48.889 --> 00:02:51.289
my finger that's moving around, and I'm not sure

00:02:51.289 --> 00:02:54.090
what's it. Okay. This has never happened to you

00:02:54.090 --> 00:02:56.550
before, so you don't know. No, no, no. Yeah.

00:02:56.669 --> 00:03:00.289
Oh, geez. Okay. Well, hopefully that'll get figured

00:03:00.289 --> 00:03:03.250
out, and it won't be a huge issue. Yeah, I will

00:03:03.250 --> 00:03:05.509
do an ultrasound tomorrow, so we will see. Oh,

00:03:05.509 --> 00:03:08.030
wow. Okay. Yeah. Are you still able to climb

00:03:08.030 --> 00:03:11.169
on it at all? No, I didn't, because I'm not sure

00:03:11.169 --> 00:03:14.409
if I can do, like, any worse to it or not. So...

00:03:14.990 --> 00:03:18.469
Yeah, I'm trying not to make it worse. Okay,

00:03:18.569 --> 00:03:22.430
that's a good idea then. So what was the last

00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:26.930
lead comp? It was Chamonix? Chamonix, yeah. So

00:03:26.930 --> 00:03:30.210
since then, have you taken time off to do a training

00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:32.969
stint between competitions and like the next

00:03:32.969 --> 00:03:34.870
World Series? Or are you just like upkeeping

00:03:34.870 --> 00:03:39.610
for them? No, I actually had a week of rest after.

00:03:39.770 --> 00:03:43.330
I had to clear my mind a little bit and also

00:03:43.330 --> 00:03:46.050
like... give a little bit of rest to the body

00:03:46.050 --> 00:03:51.110
and after that I had a few like easier sessions

00:03:51.110 --> 00:03:54.530
and then me and Luca went on a trip to Barcelona

00:03:54.530 --> 00:03:58.250
to train there for a week and then we started

00:03:58.250 --> 00:04:01.129
like serious training after that like outdoor

00:04:01.129 --> 00:04:03.530
training or like indoor training in Barcelona

00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:07.569
no indoor training I mean outdoor on a big wall

00:04:07.569 --> 00:04:10.210
but like comp style routes and stuff like that

00:04:10.210 --> 00:04:13.699
so yeah A bit of a different environment and

00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:16.220
setting and everything. So it was nice. I mean,

00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.779
do you feel like it's enough time to do... Because

00:04:18.779 --> 00:04:21.000
it seems like a kind of weird amount of time

00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:23.399
between the competitions. Is it enough time to

00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:27.379
do like a real training block? Yeah, I feel like

00:04:27.379 --> 00:04:30.199
it's the first season when we have like that

00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:33.620
much time. It was... Now it was like almost a

00:04:33.620 --> 00:04:36.079
month. No, more than a month. More than a month.

00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:39.100
And even after Cooper, again, there is almost

00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:42.810
two months of rest. So I feel like it's a weird

00:04:42.810 --> 00:04:45.610
period. Like, you don't want to do, like, a big

00:04:45.610 --> 00:04:48.329
rest and start training again. So you take a

00:04:48.329 --> 00:04:50.490
small rest and then train again. But I feel like

00:04:50.490 --> 00:04:52.990
you can improve, yes, in this period of time.

00:04:53.550 --> 00:04:56.870
It's, like, harder to do so when comps are, like,

00:04:56.870 --> 00:04:59.930
one after another. Because you're, like, getting

00:04:59.930 --> 00:05:02.189
more and more tired. And here you can, like,

00:05:02.209 --> 00:05:06.089
rest up and then train. So it's for performance.

00:05:06.149 --> 00:05:09.069
I think it's nice, but it's a long season. Also

00:05:09.069 --> 00:05:11.269
like for the mind and stuff. So there are pros

00:05:11.269 --> 00:05:14.670
and cons. Do you like this like weird schedule?

00:05:15.129 --> 00:05:19.550
I don't know. I feel like with that much time,

00:05:19.629 --> 00:05:22.910
like we have comps from end of April to end of

00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:26.129
October, which is quite some time. So there could

00:05:26.129 --> 00:05:30.790
be a lot more comps. But yeah, also the rest

00:05:30.790 --> 00:05:34.589
in between, it's not so bad. I would prefer like

00:05:34.589 --> 00:05:37.769
more comps if there is that much time. But yeah,

00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:41.259
it's... it's it's nice this way as well so yeah

00:05:41.259 --> 00:05:43.959
I think as a viewer it's kind of like hard to

00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:46.300
build up momentum it's like there were a bunch

00:05:46.300 --> 00:05:49.439
at once and it was overwhelming and now it's

00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:52.740
kind of like feels a little dead yeah yeah what

00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:55.540
to do now yeah there is a lot of time okay so

00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:58.160
then let's get a bit into your background um

00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.360
just first off how you got into climbing and

00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:04.199
competing I started when I was like pretty young

00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:07.060
in the beginning of primary school so when I

00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:12.370
was like six, maybe seven years old. I started

00:06:12.370 --> 00:06:16.490
climbing in school just out of fun. I tried a

00:06:16.490 --> 00:06:19.170
few sports back then and then I really liked

00:06:19.170 --> 00:06:24.889
it. So I stuck to it. And then a few years, it

00:06:24.889 --> 00:06:28.490
was more just like games and stuff. And after

00:06:28.490 --> 00:06:31.410
that, it got a bit more serious. So I started

00:06:31.410 --> 00:06:36.730
competing in the youth series in 2015, I believe

00:06:36.730 --> 00:06:39.519
so. I'm not sure, but yeah, I think that was

00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:43.319
my first year. Did you have like a climbing wall

00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:46.379
in your school or you just mean like separately?

00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.199
We had a climbing wall in school. It was really

00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:54.779
small. Yeah, yeah. Like elementary school years,

00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:58.459
I guess? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was small and yeah,

00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:03.259
but it was like a boulder wall, not the high

00:07:03.259 --> 00:07:06.459
one, not the leaf wall, just like the small one.

00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:09.480
Yeah. But it was pretty nice. Like for kids,

00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:12.920
it was great. And even after that, I was training

00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:15.139
there for quite some time because at the time

00:07:15.139 --> 00:07:19.120
there was not many gyms in Slovenia to actually

00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:24.639
properly train. So when I started training like

00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:29.220
seriously, the walls were pretty bad. Okay. So

00:07:29.220 --> 00:07:33.220
yeah, we had to do with what we had. So it was

00:07:33.220 --> 00:07:36.759
not the best, but... I mean, I guess I'm just

00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.160
I'm surprised to hear that because it's I feel

00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:42.939
like it's rare to find climbing walls in, you

00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:46.500
know, just like early schools, like public schools.

00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:50.939
But then to hear that there wasn't like professional

00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:54.439
gyms to climb in after. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah.

00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:58.220
There is a lot of schools that have like small

00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:01.339
climbing walls. Really? For kids to climb on.

00:08:02.060 --> 00:08:04.779
And yeah, at the time when I started, there was

00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:09.259
a lot more walls like that than like professional

00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:12.420
climbing walls or climbing jeans and stuff. I

00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:14.860
feel like it's very rare to find that here in

00:08:14.860 --> 00:08:18.500
the US. In Slovenia, do you feel like it's more

00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:23.779
of a common sport even for kids? Maybe now, but

00:08:23.779 --> 00:08:27.769
back it was not so popular. So I actually don't

00:08:27.769 --> 00:08:30.930
know how we got climbing walls in primary school.

00:08:31.089 --> 00:08:34.110
But yeah, back then it was not that popular.

00:08:34.210 --> 00:08:37.350
But now it's getting popular. Even the public

00:08:37.350 --> 00:08:43.370
gyms are overcrowded with people. And different

00:08:43.370 --> 00:08:47.669
training camps or training groups for little

00:08:47.669 --> 00:08:50.789
kids are very busy. So I think it's getting more

00:08:50.789 --> 00:08:53.179
popular. Well, we'll definitely get more into,

00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.480
I guess, like the Slovenian team in a bit. But

00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.320
before we get there, I do just kind of want to

00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:02.940
get some like lead questions out of the way and

00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:04.600
like more about your competition background.

00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:07.960
You've been competing for quite a long time.

00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:11.419
I guess it's been almost 10 years then, if you

00:09:11.419 --> 00:09:14.450
start in. Or over 10 years? Yeah, over 10 years,

00:09:14.529 --> 00:09:18.149
yeah. Yeah, I saw in your, like, world climbing

00:09:18.149 --> 00:09:21.009
info that you even did a lot of, like, speed

00:09:21.009 --> 00:09:25.070
climbing and bouldering back in the day. Yeah.

00:09:25.669 --> 00:09:29.610
I mean, you did not like that. No, I did. I actually,

00:09:29.690 --> 00:09:31.929
like, at the beginning when I did bouldering,

00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:35.009
I was not that bad. I don't know how is it possible,

00:09:35.149 --> 00:09:39.100
but my bouldering skills went somewhere. I don't

00:09:39.100 --> 00:09:42.379
know where, but they're gone now. Wow. But it

00:09:42.379 --> 00:09:45.200
was fun, yeah. And speed I did mostly because

00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:49.120
of the Olympic qualifiers. Not much otherwise,

00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:52.419
just because I had to. How did you feel about

00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:56.120
speed climbing? It's not for me. I'm not a fast

00:09:56.120 --> 00:10:01.480
climber. I'm not a very explosive climber. So

00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.159
it was, yeah. And I feel like even with the mindset

00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:07.340
that you just have to do it because of something,

00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.820
it's not that fun. Yeah. If I would, like, try

00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:14.320
it because I would want it, it would be, I guess,

00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:17.340
different. But, yeah. And then what about your

00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:19.820
bouldering? You felt like you lost it. Do you

00:10:19.820 --> 00:10:21.960
wish that that was something you could get back?

00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.379
No, I think so. I think when I was competing

00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:29.840
in boats and training in boats, I saw that I

00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:32.399
have a lot more potential in heat climbing than

00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:38.360
in bouldering. So even before Olympics, I kind

00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:40.679
of focused more on lead, but still kept with

00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:43.039
bouldering because it was combined and stuff.

00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:48.059
But after that, yeah, I completely focused on

00:10:48.059 --> 00:10:53.000
lead because I feel like, yeah, for bouldering,

00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.899
I think there is a lot more stuff missing than

00:10:55.899 --> 00:10:59.480
lead for me. So, yeah. Yeah, I don't lead climb

00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:01.399
as much. So I just have some more like general

00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:05.080
lead climbing questions. I had just talked to

00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:08.220
Ella Fisher on the USA team recently. I don't

00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:11.840
know if you know her much at all. Okay, cool.

00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:15.379
I learned some surprising things from her that

00:11:15.379 --> 00:11:18.419
she doesn't really try to memorize moves on a

00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:21.820
route. Do you try to remember your beta all the

00:11:21.820 --> 00:11:26.200
way up a route? Yeah, I do. I feel like, I feel

00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:30.370
like, especially on climbs when you're when I'm

00:11:30.370 --> 00:11:34.289
a bit more nervous if I try to do everything

00:11:34.289 --> 00:11:39.149
there is possible to like not be thinking too

00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:42.570
much on a route so like before if I I try to

00:11:42.570 --> 00:11:45.009
like check the holds if they're good if they're

00:11:45.009 --> 00:11:47.049
bad so I'm not surprised in the midst of the

00:11:47.049 --> 00:11:52.710
climb because I feel like that kind of destroys

00:11:52.710 --> 00:11:56.769
my momentum when I'm climbing If I do a move

00:11:56.769 --> 00:11:59.389
and I'm like really surprised from a hold or

00:11:59.389 --> 00:12:02.509
something, it kind of messes up with my head.

00:12:02.549 --> 00:12:06.090
So I feel if you're like more ready on the ground

00:12:06.090 --> 00:12:09.750
already, it's better than just like climbing

00:12:09.750 --> 00:12:14.009
straight up and not knowing much about it. I

00:12:14.009 --> 00:12:17.190
thought that most of the athletes would be remembering

00:12:17.190 --> 00:12:19.610
their whole route because I mean, during the

00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:22.110
reading process, it seems like you guys are like

00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:25.480
really... reading like all the way up there and

00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:28.960
trying to remember stuff um I feel like I remember

00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:32.240
hearing some people saying that they like write

00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:35.019
down things that they want to remember specifically

00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:37.820
but then yeah I talked to Ella and she was like

00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:39.679
I don't even know what the holds feel like because

00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:42.360
I don't practice on them so I don't even like

00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:45.860
try to read or she she reads it but she doesn't

00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:48.039
try to like remember what's gonna happen yeah

00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:51.480
yeah okay I don't know yeah I try to remember

00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:55.919
it not like every move but for the most part

00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.840
when i get back to iso i know the memory like

00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:02.580
i memorized the route and i tried to even like

00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:06.799
look at the clipping positions and yeah like

00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:10.340
how would you step on the specific move or something

00:13:10.340 --> 00:13:15.379
so i tried to memorize quite some stuff but not

00:13:15.379 --> 00:13:19.019
everything everything yeah okay the parts where

00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:21.440
it might be a little bit here yeah yeah a bit

00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.120
sketchy or something. So then along the lines

00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:25.840
of that, one of the audience questions that came

00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.740
in was how accurately are you able to read the

00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:31.720
upper part of a route during observation? Sometimes

00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:36.559
it's hard, especially because you can't go back

00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:40.139
enough to check the route or check the holes.

00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:43.799
You just see some blobs from the volumes and

00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:45.960
you're not really sure what kind of holes are.

00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:48.820
They're good, bad. Sometimes you can't really

00:13:48.820 --> 00:13:52.899
like... You can't picture yourself on the wall

00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:56.240
and you kind of misread the distances between

00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:59.720
the holes. So sometimes it's hard, but yeah,

00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:02.919
you can still make it work. And even now, we

00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:07.240
have the picture of the route in ISO. So after

00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:10.559
you do the observation, you kind of get a bit

00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:12.759
more of a picture in your head how it could be.

00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:17.600
And then with the photo in the ISO, you can check

00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:22.149
it a bit more. Yeah, it's easier now than it

00:14:22.149 --> 00:14:24.769
was back then because I think it's the first

00:14:24.769 --> 00:14:27.350
year when we have the photos in the ISO. Oh,

00:14:27.370 --> 00:14:29.509
really? So yeah, back then it was a bit harder

00:14:29.509 --> 00:14:35.570
to see. But yeah, we can make it work. Well,

00:14:35.610 --> 00:14:37.730
I mean, if you have a photo on ISO, I guess there's

00:14:37.730 --> 00:14:40.049
really not too much to memorize anymore than

00:14:40.049 --> 00:14:44.590
either. Well, your own beta. But the photo in

00:14:44.590 --> 00:14:46.850
the ISO, it's completely different than when

00:14:46.850 --> 00:14:49.710
you get out and see the route. Sometimes the

00:14:49.710 --> 00:14:53.350
moves look very big on the photo, but when you

00:14:53.350 --> 00:14:55.450
get out, it's like, okay, I can stretch here,

00:14:55.490 --> 00:15:00.129
I can step here. It's different, but if you forget

00:15:00.129 --> 00:15:02.690
some part of the route, you can go to the photo

00:15:02.690 --> 00:15:06.330
and you can check it again and you're a bit calmer

00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:08.250
in your mind, I guess. Are you one of the people

00:15:08.250 --> 00:15:11.049
who brings binoculars during the observation

00:15:11.049 --> 00:15:15.429
period? Yeah, I do. I do. Yeah, okay. That helps

00:15:15.429 --> 00:15:18.169
you to get a better read of it. Yeah, I think...

00:15:18.809 --> 00:15:20.990
I don't know if there is like anybody who gets

00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:23.809
out in the semi -final observation without the

00:15:23.809 --> 00:15:26.110
binoculars right now. Oh, really? I think it's

00:15:26.110 --> 00:15:29.110
quite important because there is so many holds

00:15:29.110 --> 00:15:31.889
and like a lot of holds look the same but are

00:15:31.889 --> 00:15:37.090
different when you have them. So, yeah, I think

00:15:37.090 --> 00:15:39.789
you need them. Oh, okay. I didn't know that everyone

00:15:39.789 --> 00:15:42.169
was doing that. Good to know. Okay, I kind of

00:15:42.169 --> 00:15:47.029
wanted to... play a little game of like ranking

00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:49.649
how hard it is to deal with certain things that

00:15:49.649 --> 00:15:53.590
come up during a lead route. Okay. I feel like

00:15:53.590 --> 00:15:58.669
for me still the diamond route is quite, yeah,

00:15:58.769 --> 00:16:06.029
intimidating. I don't know. Yeah. It still gets

00:16:06.029 --> 00:16:10.710
to me every time. I don't know. But now in Chamonix,

00:16:10.809 --> 00:16:13.289
we had a dyno, but it was pretty easy. And it

00:16:13.289 --> 00:16:17.049
was like, you saw it from the ground that it's

00:16:17.049 --> 00:16:20.289
pretty easy. But still, I think it still gets

00:16:20.289 --> 00:16:22.830
to you a little bit because it's, yeah, you have

00:16:22.830 --> 00:16:27.230
one shot to do it. Yeah. And the run, run up

00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:30.990
starts are definitely quite intimidating too.

00:16:31.289 --> 00:16:34.929
Yeah. But it's like still you can, if you think

00:16:34.929 --> 00:16:38.470
about it from the rotating position. it should

00:16:38.470 --> 00:16:42.429
not be that hard. Nobody should fall on the start.

00:16:43.269 --> 00:16:46.129
Well, that's the issue. You can't ease up your

00:16:46.129 --> 00:16:49.870
mind. Yeah, that's the issue. But if you are

00:16:49.870 --> 00:16:52.309
able to convince yourself that it should not

00:16:52.309 --> 00:16:57.309
be that hard, then it gets a bit easier. But

00:16:57.309 --> 00:16:59.409
yeah, those two are definitely the worst for

00:16:59.409 --> 00:17:04.769
me. Yeah, missing the best living position, it's...

00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:11.539
yeah that's sometimes it's not salvageable like

00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:16.140
if you miss it you the only option is to go back

00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:19.380
but you can't really do that sometimes so it's

00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:24.059
yeah that's that's a tough one but sometimes

00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:26.480
if you're like too pumped you just decide that

00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:29.619
you are going past it and just try to do as much

00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:32.819
moves as possible without the clipping so yeah

00:17:35.099 --> 00:17:37.380
The sections with no rest are not that intimidating.

00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:40.720
I mean, that's the point of flip climbing, so.

00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:44.819
True. It's, yeah. Yeah, you just hope you don't

00:17:44.819 --> 00:17:48.839
get too pumped. And the foot slips are, yeah,

00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:52.900
not. I feel like if it's a foot slip that it's

00:17:52.900 --> 00:17:55.980
not like you fall because of it. Yeah. It's just

00:17:55.980 --> 00:18:00.519
kind of messes up with you. I think it's like.

00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:04.599
You lose the momentum, you get a bit more hesitant,

00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:09.720
you tense up a little bit. So I feel like it's

00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:14.039
not that good if it happens, but if you can get

00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:18.680
back out of it, like in your mind, you can still

00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:23.539
do good. But yes, if you fall because of it,

00:18:23.619 --> 00:18:27.660
it's not good. Yeah, I think for that one I was

00:18:27.660 --> 00:18:30.440
just thinking, like, if it slips and then it

00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:32.420
kind of brings your mind away from what you were

00:18:32.420 --> 00:18:35.180
thinking about. Yeah, it does. I think it does.

00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:40.220
And if you're not able to, like, get back, you

00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:42.720
will probably fall in a few moves, even if you're

00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:47.440
not that pumped. Like, it gets, yeah, you get

00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:51.160
a bit stressed. You get, you're not focused enough

00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:55.250
for the next part. So, yeah. I guess in terms

00:18:55.250 --> 00:18:59.609
of sections with no rests, what are your strategies

00:18:59.609 --> 00:19:02.329
for getting rid of the pump if it's super long

00:19:02.329 --> 00:19:05.809
and there's not a place to slow down or stop?

00:19:06.230 --> 00:19:10.190
I feel like you can do a lot with breathing.

00:19:10.509 --> 00:19:13.809
Like if you know that there is a part of no rest

00:19:13.809 --> 00:19:17.009
and you, I mean, breathing throughout the whole

00:19:17.009 --> 00:19:19.690
route can help you a lot. But also like just

00:19:19.690 --> 00:19:22.509
shaking out of the wrist, just like before you

00:19:22.509 --> 00:19:26.029
grip another hold, just try to like shake a little

00:19:26.029 --> 00:19:29.329
bit. That helps too. But yeah, otherwise you

00:19:29.329 --> 00:19:32.109
just push through it and hope you find the rest.

00:19:32.549 --> 00:19:35.289
Okay. Yeah, I guess that is the whole name of

00:19:35.289 --> 00:19:38.170
the game. Just like improving your ability to

00:19:38.170 --> 00:19:39.890
hold on for a long period of time. And especially

00:19:39.890 --> 00:19:42.789
like from the ground, you cannot really read

00:19:42.789 --> 00:19:47.579
every rest there is. like sometimes you find

00:19:47.579 --> 00:19:50.660
a position to rest when you're on the route so

00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:54.640
you try to find it or it's if you see that it's

00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:58.359
a hard section of the route you just like get

00:19:58.359 --> 00:20:01.920
as fast as possible and yeah just push through

00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:05.039
it so what does your training kind of look like

00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:07.839
nowadays and what of your training do you feel

00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:10.480
like helps your lead climbing the most well for

00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:16.730
me i'm I think I'm lacking, like the thing I

00:20:16.730 --> 00:20:19.490
need to improve the most is my power and maybe

00:20:19.490 --> 00:20:23.970
like power endurance. I feel like my like pure

00:20:23.970 --> 00:20:28.670
endurance on easier routes, it's pretty good.

00:20:29.230 --> 00:20:31.849
So yeah, that's why I do a lot of like bouldering

00:20:31.849 --> 00:20:34.890
as well on the spray walls and power exercises,

00:20:34.930 --> 00:20:40.190
maybe like shorter circuits with hard moves and

00:20:40.190 --> 00:20:41.950
stuff like that. What does your training schedule

00:20:41.950 --> 00:20:45.720
look like? I do like three days, one day rest,

00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:47.779
two days, one day rest. So five days a week.

00:20:48.859 --> 00:20:54.099
And then it depends on the time of the season.

00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:56.920
On the preparation season, we do a lot more power

00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:59.720
stuff, like a lot more bouldering, a lot more

00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:03.339
power exercises, boulder routes, maybe like 20

00:21:03.339 --> 00:21:07.960
movers, 30 movers, something like that. And then

00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:11.990
when the season is getting closer, we... begin

00:21:11.990 --> 00:21:17.150
to do longer routes longer circuits but I still

00:21:17.150 --> 00:21:20.250
do a lot of power exercises in between because

00:21:20.250 --> 00:21:23.390
I think otherwise I lose all the power pretty

00:21:23.390 --> 00:21:28.750
fast so I need to like do it all the time so

00:21:28.750 --> 00:21:32.109
yeah now because it's like the middle of the

00:21:32.109 --> 00:21:35.069
season we do maybe a bit easier trainings than

00:21:35.069 --> 00:21:38.359
the beginning Because it's also pretty important

00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:40.740
you're not tired when you get to the comp. Yeah,

00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:44.319
for sure. And especially because the season is

00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:48.240
so long, you need to be motivated for the whole

00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:52.779
part. We do a lot of different trainings, so

00:21:52.779 --> 00:21:59.940
it continues to be fun. We don't do a lot of

00:21:59.940 --> 00:22:04.799
the same trainings, which I do. switch up things

00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:08.200
and yeah keep it fresh yeah well i definitely

00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:11.319
want to get into i guess i was wondering about

00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:14.420
what your training looks like now versus what

00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:17.779
it looked like before um maybe when you got sick

00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:21.519
um but i guess before we get into that um do

00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:24.240
you feel comfortable giving an overview of what

00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.559
happened when you got sick a few years ago yeah

00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:30.160
yeah Please excuse this brief intermission, but

00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.440
if you're interested in ad -free episodes and

00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:34.460
would like to unlock over four hours of deleted

00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:37.099
scenes, including one where Luchka talks about

00:22:37.099 --> 00:22:40.059
her biggest weaknesses during competitions, do

00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:42.740
consider helping support this podcast on Patreon.

00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:45.720
Some other perks include a membership pin shipped

00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:48.240
to you after two months, prioritized guest questions

00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:51.220
or the ability to submit video questions, early

00:22:51.220 --> 00:22:54.440
release episodes, and more to come. The proceeds

00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:56.700
go back into the podcast to help me break even.

00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:59.059
and they help me improve the experience of the

00:22:59.059 --> 00:23:01.880
guests. If you'd like to help out non -monetarily,

00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:04.440
liking, commenting, and sharing helps a great

00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:08.619
deal as well. Back to the show. I got a thyroid

00:23:08.619 --> 00:23:16.599
cancer in November 2023. Like the 2023 season,

00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:21.480
and even before that, I was struggling a little

00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:25.369
bit mentally, and also I was like... keep losing

00:23:25.369 --> 00:23:29.829
weight. And I didn't know exactly why. I was

00:23:29.829 --> 00:23:34.009
constantly tired. And then I got sick on the

00:23:34.009 --> 00:23:39.029
last comp of the 2022 season in China. When I

00:23:39.029 --> 00:23:41.930
got back home, I went to the doctors and they

00:23:41.930 --> 00:23:45.170
told me just like a stomach virus and something

00:23:45.170 --> 00:23:48.690
like that. It should go away fast. But then it

00:23:48.690 --> 00:23:51.069
didn't. And I went back and they told me, yeah,

00:23:51.069 --> 00:23:53.109
you should just wait a little bit more. It will

00:23:53.109 --> 00:23:56.640
be fine. And then a week after again, I went

00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:59.000
back and I asked them to do at least like a blood

00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:02.059
draw. So they know if like something is wrong.

00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:05.079
And then they did that and they called me and

00:24:05.079 --> 00:24:07.559
they were like, you need to go to the thyroid

00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:11.019
doctor right away. Oh, wow. I was like, ah, something

00:24:11.019 --> 00:24:16.119
is wrong. And then, yeah, I got to the doctors

00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:19.579
and they did the like biopsy of the thyroid gland.

00:24:21.339 --> 00:24:24.460
And yeah, then. They told me I had cancer. Wow.

00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:30.200
And in the next month, I had surgery. Yeah, in

00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:34.480
a month, I think. Because I still tried to get

00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:38.579
back to training for the Olympic qualifiers.

00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:44.099
Oh, wow. Yeah. That were in April, I think. Yeah,

00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:49.940
but the recovery was way more complicated than

00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:55.039
I anticipated. So, yeah, because of that, I had

00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:57.339
to like step away from climbing a little bit.

00:24:57.579 --> 00:25:00.240
Definitely. It's not easy to recover from any

00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:04.859
surgery, let alone surgery for cancer. Did you

00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:08.160
like find it pretty early then? Yeah, it was

00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:12.140
it was very early. I mean, yeah, because it could

00:25:12.140 --> 00:25:15.420
spread to your like vocal glands and everything

00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:19.180
around it. But for me, it was OK. So they actually

00:25:19.180 --> 00:25:22.960
just took out the whole thyroid. um and it and

00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:26.180
it did not spread anywhere so it's pretty easy

00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:29.200
yeah I didn't have to do any chemo or stuff like

00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:34.519
that it was yeah it was relatively easy in that

00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:39.339
part sure um I mean yeah I guess what were the

00:25:39.339 --> 00:25:42.920
symptoms that you had it seemed like it was you

00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:46.440
like really had to fight to get the test that

00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:49.720
you needed to find it yeah it's like the symptoms

00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:53.849
were I don't know why I explained them in my

00:25:53.849 --> 00:25:57.529
head. I found answers why I was like that. I

00:25:57.529 --> 00:25:59.549
don't know. I was very tired after trainings.

00:25:59.609 --> 00:26:03.730
I just like passed out on the couch. Like I didn't

00:26:03.730 --> 00:26:06.529
have much energy because I think that was the

00:26:06.529 --> 00:26:12.190
biggest symptom that I had. And also I kept losing

00:26:12.190 --> 00:26:15.329
weight and I couldn't like gain the weight again.

00:26:15.910 --> 00:26:22.309
So that was also a thing. but yeah after I think

00:26:22.309 --> 00:26:25.730
those were the main two symptoms that I had and

00:26:25.730 --> 00:26:27.750
did it affect your training at all I mean it

00:26:27.750 --> 00:26:30.650
just like of course you're training hard so people

00:26:30.650 --> 00:26:35.170
are tired after and so yeah I feel like it did

00:26:35.170 --> 00:26:38.670
yeah it did affect I could not like do like if

00:26:38.670 --> 00:26:42.869
I would do the trainings I do now back then I

00:26:42.869 --> 00:26:45.650
think I could not like manage to do the whole

00:26:45.650 --> 00:26:49.230
training session So it was definitely affecting

00:26:49.230 --> 00:26:52.289
me. And so then, yeah, you mentioned like recovery

00:26:52.289 --> 00:26:55.569
was kind of difficult. What happened there? Were

00:26:55.569 --> 00:26:57.730
there like, what was surprising to you? After

00:26:57.730 --> 00:27:02.150
I got sick, I had like ongoing stomach problems.

00:27:02.230 --> 00:27:06.230
Like I was nauseous 24 -7. At the beginning,

00:27:06.250 --> 00:27:10.329
I could never eat. And also I have a crazy fear

00:27:10.329 --> 00:27:12.789
of throwing up. So it's like... Oh my gosh, me

00:27:12.789 --> 00:27:16.900
too. Yeah, it's not fun. I don't know anyone

00:27:16.900 --> 00:27:21.980
else who has that really. Yeah, that's me. It's

00:27:21.980 --> 00:27:25.220
like, it's so, I don't know, the people are always

00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:28.279
like, yeah, nobody likes throwing up. And I'm

00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:31.119
like, it's not just that. I get like a crazy

00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:33.920
panic attack. When I was nauseous all the time,

00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:38.779
it was like ongoing mind battle. Like, am I going

00:27:38.779 --> 00:27:43.119
to be sick? Am I sick? And I kind of developed

00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:46.539
like... really bad anxiety and when I'm anxious

00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:50.019
I get nauseous and if I'm nauseous my anxiety

00:27:50.019 --> 00:27:53.299
is even worse so it was like a circle of things

00:27:53.299 --> 00:27:58.119
and I did a lot of tests for that if maybe something

00:27:58.119 --> 00:28:01.759
messed up with my stomach or like intestines

00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:05.359
or something but like at the end nothing was

00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:08.140
really popping out of the test like I have a

00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:12.920
mild gastritis and also like I did the the stomach

00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:15.680
emptying test and my stomach empties a little

00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:20.940
bit slower than it should so that could also

00:28:20.940 --> 00:28:25.740
be a reason why I'm nauseous sometimes but like

00:28:25.740 --> 00:28:29.480
now three years after that I get like nauseous

00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:32.220
when I'm yeah really anxious and stressed and

00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:35.059
stuff oh it still happens so it's yeah it still

00:28:35.059 --> 00:28:40.539
happens but now I kind of know how to work around

00:28:40.539 --> 00:28:43.480
it I guess Oh, so it hasn't really gone away.

00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:48.140
No, it hasn't gone away. Oh, wow. But yeah, but

00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:51.380
it's getting definitely better because the first,

00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:55.099
I don't know, half a year to a year maybe, it

00:28:55.099 --> 00:28:59.319
was like hard for me to get up and do stuff because

00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:01.740
I was so nauseous that I could just like lay

00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:04.119
in bed and that's it. Like especially after the

00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:06.339
surgery, but that was after, yeah, that was because

00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:09.079
of the surgery. I couldn't even like a week.

00:29:09.450 --> 00:29:12.150
or maybe two weeks after the surgery, I was like,

00:29:12.170 --> 00:29:14.329
ah, maybe I should go outside a little bit. And

00:29:14.329 --> 00:29:16.829
I put my shoes on and I was like, no, I don't

00:29:16.829 --> 00:29:20.529
have energy to do that. I went back to bed. And

00:29:20.529 --> 00:29:23.589
I think after a month after surgery, I did like

00:29:23.589 --> 00:29:28.730
the first little walk. Wow. But now I'm still,

00:29:28.829 --> 00:29:33.250
yeah, working through the anxiety and stuff that

00:29:33.250 --> 00:29:38.819
is still sticking to me. Are you... mostly just

00:29:38.819 --> 00:29:41.059
scared about yourself throwing up or does it

00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:43.420
also bother you if people near you are throwing

00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:47.259
up no it bothers me also the people near me i

00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:51.059
went to the to one test in the like a doctor's

00:29:51.059 --> 00:29:55.380
office to the stomach emptying test and i opened

00:29:55.380 --> 00:29:57.720
the door and i saw a lady throwing up and i just

00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:00.140
like closed the door and ran out of the hospital

00:30:00.140 --> 00:30:03.380
and the the like the nurse went like was running

00:30:03.380 --> 00:30:05.440
with me and she was like what's wrong you know

00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.509
like I'm not going back in there you lost me

00:30:08.509 --> 00:30:11.529
I'm done then she's like okay we will go around

00:30:11.529 --> 00:30:14.450
it from the back like when where we are going

00:30:14.450 --> 00:30:17.890
and then she like put me around and the whole

00:30:17.890 --> 00:30:21.049
a whole thing yeah that would that would definitely

00:30:21.049 --> 00:30:24.250
end it for me yeah for me I'm actually less scared

00:30:24.250 --> 00:30:27.109
of myself throwing up but I really don't like

00:30:27.109 --> 00:30:30.470
being around people who are and I will do like

00:30:30.470 --> 00:30:34.269
anything to avoid that yeah And also because

00:30:34.269 --> 00:30:36.829
of that, I got like a crazy anxiety with traveling.

00:30:37.569 --> 00:30:41.390
I loved traveling before. Now every time I do,

00:30:41.430 --> 00:30:46.430
I need to like, yeah, get my shit together to

00:30:46.430 --> 00:30:49.750
like actually do it. On planes and stuff? Yeah,

00:30:49.750 --> 00:30:53.089
yeah, yeah. And I have my anti -sickness tablets

00:30:53.089 --> 00:30:56.569
with me all the time. No matter what. If maybe

00:30:56.569 --> 00:30:59.430
anybody around me needs them. Yeah. I'm like

00:30:59.430 --> 00:31:02.009
always ready. Yes, that's good. That's good.

00:31:02.190 --> 00:31:05.710
I like hear people talk about competing when

00:31:05.710 --> 00:31:07.549
they're throwing up or like when they're sick.

00:31:07.970 --> 00:31:10.710
And that would really throw me off if I was trying

00:31:10.710 --> 00:31:13.529
to compete. And then I know that someone had,

00:31:13.650 --> 00:31:16.529
I don't know, I hear stuff about what happens

00:31:16.529 --> 00:31:19.049
behind the stage. I rather not know that things.

00:31:19.349 --> 00:31:21.750
Okay. Yeah, I won't. I won't tell you about any

00:31:21.750 --> 00:31:25.569
of that. So I guess how long after your surgery

00:31:25.569 --> 00:31:30.049
did you, I guess, start to climb again and then

00:31:30.569 --> 00:31:33.650
How long after did you feel ready to return?

00:31:34.029 --> 00:31:40.690
I started easy trainings maybe three months after

00:31:40.690 --> 00:31:44.130
it, but that was just to be with different people,

00:31:44.190 --> 00:31:47.750
change the environment a little bit. But that

00:31:47.750 --> 00:31:51.589
was like maybe 30 minutes of climbing to an hour.

00:31:51.730 --> 00:31:55.109
Not really training, just like hanging out with

00:31:55.109 --> 00:31:58.630
people mostly. Because when I was at home and

00:31:58.630 --> 00:32:02.789
in my... My zone with myself was not doing much

00:32:02.789 --> 00:32:06.529
for me. Yeah. So I had to move away from that

00:32:06.529 --> 00:32:11.430
a little bit. And then, yeah, it took quite some

00:32:11.430 --> 00:32:15.970
time. I skipped the whole 2024 season. In the

00:32:15.970 --> 00:32:21.150
beginning of 2025, I was like, okay, now I feel

00:32:21.150 --> 00:32:24.049
like this is the year for me to like make it

00:32:24.049 --> 00:32:28.950
or break it. So I decided to try. training back

00:32:28.950 --> 00:32:34.970
again like nothing happened and then yeah I decided

00:32:34.970 --> 00:32:38.369
to see if that would work out or no I was still

00:32:38.369 --> 00:32:43.230
struggling quite a lot quite some time in 2025

00:32:43.230 --> 00:32:47.289
but it got better but even on the comps I felt

00:32:47.289 --> 00:32:50.150
terrible like even if my results were good in

00:32:50.150 --> 00:32:54.670
Innsbruck I in the morning when we had the qualifiers

00:32:54.670 --> 00:32:58.329
I was Like, no, I'm not competing. I feel terrible.

00:32:58.349 --> 00:33:02.690
I was not feeling good. And even every comp after

00:33:02.690 --> 00:33:06.730
that, it was slowly getting better. But it was,

00:33:06.730 --> 00:33:10.089
yeah, not fun. Definitely not fun. Or was it

00:33:10.089 --> 00:33:13.569
more like the physical tiredness and anxiousness

00:33:13.569 --> 00:33:15.650
and nauseousness? Or was it more like the mental

00:33:15.650 --> 00:33:18.829
battle of competing? I think everything, but

00:33:18.829 --> 00:33:21.529
mostly the health part. I was not feeling well.

00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:26.099
I still felt terrible, I still felt really nauseous

00:33:26.099 --> 00:33:30.059
and I was not able to eat that much and yeah,

00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:34.579
I was not feeling well and I did not feel like

00:33:34.579 --> 00:33:37.500
I could perform well with the kind of state I

00:33:37.500 --> 00:33:39.859
was in. Because I felt strong on trainings and

00:33:39.859 --> 00:33:43.319
that but when I got to a stressing situation

00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:49.079
it just like broke me. But I knew that I had

00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:53.059
to like... build it up again to be back where

00:33:53.059 --> 00:33:56.740
I want to be but it yeah it took quite some time

00:33:56.740 --> 00:33:59.759
so did you have to re -qualify to be on the team

00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.259
or did you go straight to world cups or world

00:34:02.259 --> 00:34:05.079
series no we had we had the simulation trainings

00:34:05.079 --> 00:34:08.900
like the same as every year and I had to do them

00:34:08.900 --> 00:34:13.079
and actually I was in a really good shape so

00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:18.820
it was not a problem for me to qualify and Actually,

00:34:18.820 --> 00:34:24.119
the team never put me on hold. They were always

00:34:24.119 --> 00:34:28.079
very supportive of me, and I could join every

00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:30.820
training I wanted. I could even go to Innsbruck

00:34:30.820 --> 00:34:34.400
with them, even if I would not be competing on

00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:39.440
the comps. So it was nice to feel welcome still,

00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:43.099
even though I kind of was not in the team at

00:34:43.099 --> 00:34:46.039
the time. Yeah, it's nice that they never really

00:34:46.039 --> 00:34:48.639
took you out of the team. I'm sure that helped.

00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:53.059
Did going through this make you feel more motivated

00:34:53.059 --> 00:34:56.500
in a way to come back and prove that you could

00:34:56.500 --> 00:35:00.800
climb again? Yeah, definitely. But it mostly

00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:05.539
motivated me to become a different climber and

00:35:05.539 --> 00:35:09.639
a different person. Through this situation, I

00:35:09.639 --> 00:35:13.579
feel like I noticed some habits that I had before.

00:35:14.570 --> 00:35:17.630
That was not working for me. And yeah, I was,

00:35:17.650 --> 00:35:20.769
I'm still a people pleaser, but I was a people

00:35:20.769 --> 00:35:24.750
pleaser way more before. I feel like I put myself

00:35:24.750 --> 00:35:28.969
in the second or third place or even worse before.

00:35:29.309 --> 00:35:34.469
Now I'm trying to like, yeah, be more, do stuff

00:35:34.469 --> 00:35:39.510
for myself more. And it's, it feels pretty good.

00:35:39.909 --> 00:35:43.400
Okay. Do you have like an example of that? Not

00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:46.179
really, just like day to day life. I'm trying

00:35:46.179 --> 00:35:49.480
to like do stuff that I like and not do stuff

00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:53.400
that I don't want to do. And so we're a few,

00:35:53.500 --> 00:35:56.159
a couple of years out now from when that happened.

00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:59.679
How do you feel like it still affects you mentally?

00:36:00.039 --> 00:36:02.780
I feel like if something like this happens to

00:36:02.780 --> 00:36:06.139
you when you're pretty young or even after, even

00:36:06.139 --> 00:36:09.800
if you're older, you're like. It's always in

00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:12.360
the back of your mind that it might happen again

00:36:12.360 --> 00:36:14.800
or something like this might happen again to

00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:20.619
you or to somebody close to you. And I'm still

00:36:20.619 --> 00:36:23.579
in a constant battle when some days I wake up

00:36:23.579 --> 00:36:28.340
and I'm like asking myself, I'm okay, do I feel

00:36:28.340 --> 00:36:31.139
weird, do I feel okay, if something is wrong

00:36:31.139 --> 00:36:35.539
or something. So that's, yeah, that's the constant

00:36:35.539 --> 00:36:38.110
battle that I still have. And yeah, with anxiety,

00:36:38.610 --> 00:36:43.449
I still have it. And I think I will have it for

00:36:43.449 --> 00:36:46.530
quite some time still. So it's fine. But you

00:36:46.530 --> 00:36:50.949
learn how to live with it. Do you feel like it's

00:36:50.949 --> 00:36:54.210
still affecting your training? Or do you feel

00:36:54.210 --> 00:36:57.030
like you've kind of surpassed your previous level

00:36:57.030 --> 00:37:00.610
at this point? I feel like it's not affecting

00:37:00.610 --> 00:37:04.170
my training. Like when I get to the gym, I kind

00:37:04.170 --> 00:37:07.460
of know how to like shut it up. And actually

00:37:07.460 --> 00:37:09.340
like training, if I have a bad day, training

00:37:09.340 --> 00:37:13.500
helps me a lot. If I feel terrible in the morning,

00:37:13.639 --> 00:37:16.360
I'm training and then afterwards I feel fine.

00:37:17.260 --> 00:37:20.320
But the biggest battle for me is like if I have

00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:23.500
a bad day, to not get back into the circle of

00:37:23.500 --> 00:37:27.300
questioning myself. And yeah, sometimes I feel

00:37:27.300 --> 00:37:31.059
like I'm the biggest enemy of myself. Like I

00:37:31.059 --> 00:37:36.480
do those bad days myself. So yeah. it's the biggest

00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:39.119
battle is for me to not get into the rhythm of

00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:42.400
bad days and try to like get out of it and it's

00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:46.599
like everything is okay you're fine yeah is there

00:37:46.599 --> 00:37:49.599
anything that you've done that you feel like

00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:52.280
has helped the most in terms of managing oh i

00:37:52.280 --> 00:37:55.840
tried a lot of stuff but at the end of the day

00:37:55.840 --> 00:37:59.139
i think time was the biggest like killing part

00:37:59.139 --> 00:38:03.559
for me i never tried the medications for depression

00:38:03.559 --> 00:38:08.599
and anxiety and stuff. The doctors tried to convince

00:38:08.599 --> 00:38:10.679
me for that, but I was like, no, I will do it.

00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:14.340
I know I can do it on my own terms. I just need

00:38:14.340 --> 00:38:20.880
time. But yeah, sometimes when I feel bad, the

00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:27.420
walks help a lot. Just keeping my mind off of

00:38:27.420 --> 00:38:33.849
it. Get busy, maybe. start cleaning start studying

00:38:33.849 --> 00:38:37.969
whatever yeah anything to get your mind off of

00:38:37.969 --> 00:38:41.849
it yeah yeah well i hope that your health starts

00:38:41.849 --> 00:38:44.730
to improve more and more and one day you'll feel

00:38:44.730 --> 00:38:46.909
back to how you're feeling before all of it happened

00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:51.480
So then going, moving on a bit to the Slovenian

00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:54.199
team. It's nice to hear that they stuck around

00:38:54.199 --> 00:38:57.199
you throughout your hard times. I mean, everyone

00:38:57.199 --> 00:38:59.800
always wants to know on the Slovenian team, what

00:38:59.800 --> 00:39:02.320
is it like to climb with Janja on the team? Like,

00:39:02.340 --> 00:39:04.460
do you guys train together much? No, we actually

00:39:04.460 --> 00:39:08.019
don't train together much. Almost never, I think.

00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:11.039
Wow. So yeah, I just, when we are on the comps,

00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:13.500
we are together. But otherwise, we're training

00:39:13.500 --> 00:39:18.239
in different environments. Is it like that with

00:39:18.239 --> 00:39:20.099
all the athletes or is it just like she kind

00:39:20.099 --> 00:39:22.460
of trains separately doing her own thing and

00:39:22.460 --> 00:39:25.780
then the rest of you train like at a training

00:39:25.780 --> 00:39:27.800
camp? Yeah, she trains separately, definitely.

00:39:28.900 --> 00:39:33.760
We have quite a few team trainings, especially

00:39:33.760 --> 00:39:35.760
now during the comms, we have a lot of setting.

00:39:36.340 --> 00:39:38.920
So we have national team trainings and we train

00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:42.579
together. But yeah, she trains separately, so

00:39:42.579 --> 00:39:46.320
we don't train together much. Do you guys have

00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:49.219
a national training center that you guys go to

00:39:49.219 --> 00:39:53.219
on a regular basis? Not really. They just started

00:39:53.219 --> 00:39:56.400
building one. It should be ready in two years.

00:39:56.960 --> 00:40:00.639
Oh, wow. Yeah, but that's quite some time from

00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:03.760
now. No, but when we have team trainings, we

00:40:03.760 --> 00:40:06.159
usually do them in Cooper, where the World Cup

00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:11.500
is. So yeah, that's kind of our lead training

00:40:11.500 --> 00:40:16.380
session. yeah we have the sessions there mostly

00:40:16.380 --> 00:40:19.480
or sometimes we do them in the like the gyms

00:40:19.480 --> 00:40:22.119
when where we are training on the circuit wall

00:40:22.119 --> 00:40:26.099
like the boulder wall so yeah but we don't have

00:40:26.099 --> 00:40:28.760
a specific training center Yeah, I guess I'm

00:40:28.760 --> 00:40:31.500
surprised to hear that she almost never climbs

00:40:31.500 --> 00:40:34.000
with you guys except for during the competitions.

00:40:35.320 --> 00:40:37.820
So then one of the audience questions that came

00:40:37.820 --> 00:40:40.960
in was, do you have a perspective on how Slovenia

00:40:40.960 --> 00:40:44.280
is able to produce strong athletes and what kind

00:40:44.280 --> 00:40:47.619
of support you've gotten? I don't know. I think

00:40:47.619 --> 00:40:53.420
we are all motivated. We have a pretty big history

00:40:53.420 --> 00:40:58.139
in climbing as well. There is a lot of... great

00:40:58.139 --> 00:41:00.900
climbers there were a lot of great great climbers

00:41:00.900 --> 00:41:06.619
back then so yeah we i think that's quite a big

00:41:06.619 --> 00:41:11.280
part and yeah the motivation and we but we are

00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:14.679
we are like all of the team is pretty much on

00:41:14.679 --> 00:41:17.820
the really high level especially on the lead

00:41:17.820 --> 00:41:20.579
team so we are pushing each other and we still

00:41:20.579 --> 00:41:23.800
try to do like a lot of team trainings and training

00:41:23.800 --> 00:41:27.809
camps in innsbruck and we try to Do different

00:41:27.809 --> 00:41:32.250
stuff, try different stuff on trainings and try

00:41:32.250 --> 00:41:36.010
to improve every little thing possible. That's

00:41:36.010 --> 00:41:38.389
part of why I was surprised to hear that you

00:41:38.389 --> 00:41:41.150
guys don't train with Janja much because I figured

00:41:41.150 --> 00:41:42.929
that would kind of be like the biggest motivation

00:41:42.929 --> 00:41:47.789
to getting better and like learning new tactics

00:41:47.789 --> 00:41:50.889
or like training techniques or things like that.

00:41:51.130 --> 00:41:54.210
Yeah, maybe, but I think even her level of timing

00:41:54.210 --> 00:42:00.780
is... so high that you need different stuff I

00:42:00.780 --> 00:42:05.380
mean she like trains so hard and maybe for for

00:42:05.380 --> 00:42:07.960
us it's like the climbs are too hard or something

00:42:07.960 --> 00:42:12.539
so you could learn some stuff but sometimes it's

00:42:12.539 --> 00:42:15.300
even better for me to train with I don't know

00:42:15.300 --> 00:42:17.960
Rosa and Mia and like girls like that because

00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:23.219
they're pretty much the same level yeah but it's

00:42:23.219 --> 00:42:26.119
definitely like whenever we get a chance to train

00:42:26.119 --> 00:42:29.260
together it's yeah inspiring and motivating and

00:42:29.260 --> 00:42:33.139
yeah it's fun I guess I kind of get that it's

00:42:33.139 --> 00:42:36.039
like nice to train with people who are around

00:42:36.039 --> 00:42:37.940
your level and if there's someone who's like

00:42:37.940 --> 00:42:41.039
doing a lot harder stuff it's kind of like well

00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:43.460
I don't really see myself doing that so I can't

00:42:43.460 --> 00:42:46.219
really yeah and even for her sometimes or even

00:42:46.219 --> 00:42:48.920
pretty much most time I think the setting is

00:42:48.920 --> 00:42:53.780
too easy on the team trainings So, yeah. Okay,

00:42:53.840 --> 00:42:56.500
so one thing I also wanted to get into, if you're

00:42:56.500 --> 00:42:59.820
comfortable with it, is your relationship with

00:42:59.820 --> 00:43:03.780
Luca. Yeah. How long have you guys been together?

00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:07.639
It's been four years now. It will be four years.

00:43:07.940 --> 00:43:11.440
Yeah. Wow, that's a long time. I was just wondering,

00:43:11.619 --> 00:43:15.119
like, is it weird being on the same team? No,

00:43:15.179 --> 00:43:19.800
I think it's nice. Because you're like, like

00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:24.099
you. Always have somebody to talk to. Somebody

00:43:24.099 --> 00:43:28.760
that understands you, knows you the best. Especially

00:43:28.760 --> 00:43:33.500
for me after the like health issues. Yeah. It's

00:43:33.500 --> 00:43:39.119
nice for me to have somebody in my bubble. Yeah.

00:43:39.340 --> 00:43:42.960
Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. So it's nice.

00:43:43.260 --> 00:43:46.920
Do you guys like train together much? Yeah. Yeah,

00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:50.159
we actually have a thing coach. Oh, okay. So

00:43:50.159 --> 00:43:53.960
we train together pretty much all the time. And

00:43:53.960 --> 00:43:56.119
I guess during those trainings, do you guys ever

00:43:56.119 --> 00:43:59.579
feel competitive against each other? Not really.

00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:04.639
Maybe in a fun way at the beginning of the session

00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:08.099
when we are warming up. But after that, he's

00:44:08.099 --> 00:44:11.440
on a way different level than I am. So we are

00:44:11.440 --> 00:44:15.340
not trying the same stuff. But I feel like it's

00:44:15.340 --> 00:44:21.150
pretty... I noticed that if he does well on training

00:44:21.150 --> 00:44:26.730
and stuff, it kind of gets me a bit more motivated.

00:44:28.150 --> 00:44:31.050
And because we know each other so well, you know

00:44:31.050 --> 00:44:37.110
which buttons to push to motivate the other person

00:44:37.110 --> 00:44:41.389
more. And what buttons to push to piss him off.

00:44:42.349 --> 00:44:46.150
That too, but we don't do that that much on trainings.

00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:51.400
Only if it's needed. Yeah, I mean, we are competitive,

00:44:51.599 --> 00:44:55.539
but I know that I'm not as strong as he is. But

00:44:55.539 --> 00:44:58.360
sometimes if I do a boulder faster than him,

00:44:58.400 --> 00:45:01.820
I'm like, even if he slipped or something. But

00:45:01.820 --> 00:45:07.500
I know when to not do that. And he knows when

00:45:07.500 --> 00:45:11.099
to not do that. He likes to push my buttons a

00:45:11.099 --> 00:45:12.960
bit more than I do. Do you feel like there's

00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:15.840
a big difference between the ability on the men's

00:45:15.840 --> 00:45:18.599
circuit then versus the women's circuit? I figured

00:45:18.599 --> 00:45:20.880
in lead it would be a little bit more similar

00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:24.539
than boulder, but yeah, I'm not sure. Yeah, I

00:45:24.539 --> 00:45:28.699
guess it's a bit more similar, but still I feel

00:45:28.699 --> 00:45:32.599
like the moves on men's route are pretty hard,

00:45:32.760 --> 00:45:35.780
especially like, I don't know, one section. It's

00:45:35.780 --> 00:45:38.639
too hard if you try. Sometimes I try the men's

00:45:38.639 --> 00:45:42.829
route if we have simulations in Copper. And some

00:45:42.829 --> 00:45:46.170
routes are fine, but if it gets to like a semifinal

00:45:46.170 --> 00:45:51.349
level, it's, yeah, not really worth trying. Okay,

00:45:51.429 --> 00:45:54.849
good to know. So then thinking about the future,

00:45:55.050 --> 00:46:00.309
are you hopeful for the 2028 Olympics? Yeah,

00:46:00.369 --> 00:46:04.150
I mean, the Olympics until now kind of slipped

00:46:04.150 --> 00:46:09.030
through my fingers both times. But yeah, I hope

00:46:09.030 --> 00:46:12.309
the third is the lucky charm. We will see. Well,

00:46:12.329 --> 00:46:14.110
they split out Boulder and Leeds, so hopefully

00:46:14.110 --> 00:46:17.030
that should help. Yeah, that's a good, yeah.

00:46:17.150 --> 00:46:20.630
But there is like only a few athletes going and

00:46:20.630 --> 00:46:24.070
still there is two per country. So it will be

00:46:24.070 --> 00:46:27.389
a battle. But yeah, I'm hopeful to do it and

00:46:27.389 --> 00:46:31.289
I'll retrain for it. So we'll see. And do you

00:46:31.289 --> 00:46:34.869
know what the qualification process will look

00:46:34.869 --> 00:46:37.489
like in terms of how they decide people who go?

00:46:37.869 --> 00:46:41.530
i think so i'm not completely sure i'm kind of

00:46:41.530 --> 00:46:43.329
embarrassed that i don't know completely but

00:46:43.329 --> 00:46:47.170
i think next year is the like european qualifiers

00:46:47.170 --> 00:46:53.750
like one comp in turkey i think no yeah i think

00:46:53.750 --> 00:46:56.610
it's in istanbul and then there is the three

00:46:56.610 --> 00:47:01.409
qualifying comps the same year as olympics so

00:47:01.409 --> 00:47:05.429
yeah and again the world champs the or the european

00:47:05.429 --> 00:47:10.460
comp Yeah, continental comps. Yeah. It's pretty

00:47:10.460 --> 00:47:14.559
much the same as it was before. They're not doing,

00:47:14.559 --> 00:47:17.719
like, qualifications where you have to do both

00:47:17.719 --> 00:47:20.079
boulder and lead and then, like, decide based

00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:22.760
on that, right? No. Okay. No. Yeah, everything

00:47:22.760 --> 00:47:24.659
is separated now. Yeah, I feel like there were

00:47:24.659 --> 00:47:26.860
talks about that at some point and then, yeah,

00:47:26.900 --> 00:47:28.559
people were kind of mad. Yeah, everything was,

00:47:28.619 --> 00:47:32.599
like, we had the talks in China, I think, in

00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:34.980
the first comp of the season. And I just kind

00:47:34.980 --> 00:47:37.199
of zoned out because it was too complicated.

00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:41.639
And nobody knew for sure what the rules are going

00:47:41.639 --> 00:47:44.739
to be. So even now, I'm not sure if everything

00:47:44.739 --> 00:47:50.980
is completely set up. We will see. No point thinking

00:47:50.980 --> 00:47:52.940
about it too much. You'll figure out when to

00:47:52.940 --> 00:47:54.960
get there. I just need to be ready until then.

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.360
And that's what I need to think about. yeah that

00:47:59.360 --> 00:48:03.380
makes sense um i guess past even thinking about

00:48:03.380 --> 00:48:05.980
the olympics uh how do you see climbing fitting

00:48:05.980 --> 00:48:09.880
into maybe like your future career post athlete

00:48:09.880 --> 00:48:14.440
career actually i'm not sure about that yet i

00:48:14.440 --> 00:48:17.099
would see like i definitely want to do these

00:48:17.099 --> 00:48:21.440
olympics and maybe one more like the like um

00:48:21.440 --> 00:48:25.199
try to do the olympics or even like being on

00:48:25.199 --> 00:48:27.639
world cups and stuff And after that, I'm not

00:48:27.639 --> 00:48:31.400
sure actually what I want to do. Are you in school

00:48:31.400 --> 00:48:35.519
right now or are you just... Yeah, I'm finishing

00:48:35.519 --> 00:48:39.159
my college. I hopefully will finish it this year.

00:48:39.619 --> 00:48:42.780
What's the degree in? Economics. Well, there's

00:48:42.780 --> 00:48:45.699
a lot of options there. Yeah. I don't know if

00:48:45.699 --> 00:48:47.920
it will end up being climbing related, but...

00:48:47.920 --> 00:48:50.639
Maybe not, maybe yes. We will see. Maybe I can

00:48:50.639 --> 00:48:54.360
do some financing stuff in like a private gym

00:48:54.360 --> 00:48:57.699
or something, maybe. I don't know. We will see.

00:48:57.880 --> 00:49:01.500
I mean, do you want it to be a part of your like

00:49:01.500 --> 00:49:03.920
longer term career or do you hope to be climbing

00:49:03.920 --> 00:49:08.400
for, I mean, ever, I guess? I mean, some people

00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:11.780
I've talked to, they're almost like, it almost

00:49:11.780 --> 00:49:13.940
sounds like they're pretty happy with letting

00:49:13.940 --> 00:49:17.119
it go at some point. Yeah, I'm not completely

00:49:17.119 --> 00:49:19.980
sure about that, but I would definitely want

00:49:19.980 --> 00:49:25.880
to do something else as well. like maybe something

00:49:25.880 --> 00:49:29.780
else and still do climbing like I don't know

00:49:29.780 --> 00:49:33.059
it's I don't know if you're like a for me like

00:49:33.059 --> 00:49:37.000
a professional athlete when you end with serious

00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:40.519
training so like your level drops a lot and I

00:49:40.519 --> 00:49:43.280
don't know how I would handle with that exactly

00:49:43.280 --> 00:49:45.659
like doing the route and then like struggling

00:49:45.659 --> 00:49:48.519
on a 7c I don't know if I would be fine with

00:49:48.519 --> 00:49:51.860
that yeah so we will see maybe just like coaching

00:49:51.860 --> 00:49:56.000
maybe I don't know yeah we we will see there's

00:49:56.000 --> 00:50:00.219
a lot of options so yeah okay but i want to like

00:50:00.219 --> 00:50:04.000
finish my college degree so my options are really

00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:07.679
open yeah definitely i would imagine that for

00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:11.079
you would be a little bit easier to come to terms

00:50:11.079 --> 00:50:13.760
with Maybe you're climbing at a lower level because

00:50:13.760 --> 00:50:15.539
you already kind of went through the process

00:50:15.539 --> 00:50:18.019
of getting sick and then not being able to train

00:50:18.019 --> 00:50:20.340
for a long time. I would imagine that when you

00:50:20.340 --> 00:50:22.760
first came back, you did not immediately start

00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:25.159
climbing the same routes you could before. Yeah,

00:50:25.199 --> 00:50:28.300
definitely not. Definitely not. But I'm not saying

00:50:28.300 --> 00:50:30.539
that it was fun. Okay, that's true. You don't

00:50:30.539 --> 00:50:32.880
want to go through it again. Yeah, I don't think

00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:36.300
so. I'm struggling every year after the break

00:50:36.300 --> 00:50:41.849
after the season to get back into it. Not fun.

00:50:42.349 --> 00:50:45.150
Yeah. It's a struggle every time. And every time

00:50:45.150 --> 00:50:47.170
I'm like, oh, why did I have to rest? Why did

00:50:47.170 --> 00:50:51.050
I not climb for three weeks? But yeah, you push

00:50:51.050 --> 00:50:52.989
through it and it's fine. Like in a week or two,

00:50:53.130 --> 00:50:56.429
you get back into it. But I don't know if I would

00:50:56.429 --> 00:51:00.429
be happy with it in the long term if like my

00:51:00.429 --> 00:51:02.210
shape got really bad. But maybe, I don't know,

00:51:02.230 --> 00:51:05.050
maybe I will become a rock climber. Who knows?

00:51:05.269 --> 00:51:08.409
Do you like feel much enjoyment from doing easier

00:51:08.409 --> 00:51:11.489
routes or is it just kind of meh? I actually

00:51:11.489 --> 00:51:15.449
enjoy it a lot. If a route is even a bit easier

00:51:15.449 --> 00:51:19.170
and really fun to climb and nice to climb, not

00:51:19.170 --> 00:51:24.210
freaky or sketchy, it's very enjoyable. Well,

00:51:24.349 --> 00:51:28.769
then it seems good for your future. Yeah. I see

00:51:28.769 --> 00:51:31.969
climbing in your future. Yeah, we will see. I

00:51:31.969 --> 00:51:33.949
mean, I guess you mentioned maybe you'll do more

00:51:33.949 --> 00:51:36.409
rock climbing in the future. Do you do any outdoor

00:51:36.409 --> 00:51:39.989
climbing right now? I don't do much. but I would

00:51:39.989 --> 00:51:44.489
like to but usually when maybe this year this

00:51:44.489 --> 00:51:47.150
year there's a lot more time like during the

00:51:47.150 --> 00:51:51.610
season but like when the season was more scrunched

00:51:51.610 --> 00:51:55.210
together there was not much time to to do rock

00:51:55.210 --> 00:51:58.170
climbing and still if I would do rock climbing

00:51:58.170 --> 00:52:00.949
I want to be in shape to do something hard okay

00:52:00.949 --> 00:52:05.449
yeah so yeah you yeah I did like last year when

00:52:05.449 --> 00:52:08.349
we were done with the season I did a few days

00:52:08.349 --> 00:52:12.789
before I had the big rest. So maybe this year,

00:52:12.869 --> 00:52:14.929
I don't know, after Cobra, I will do some rock

00:52:14.929 --> 00:52:18.929
climbing. We'll see. I would like to do it, but

00:52:18.929 --> 00:52:24.610
I need to find the perfect time for it. And even

00:52:24.610 --> 00:52:27.769
with the weather, it gets a bit sketchy during

00:52:27.769 --> 00:52:30.949
those months, so we'll see. And it's not super

00:52:30.949 --> 00:52:33.969
great for training, or do you feel like it translates

00:52:33.969 --> 00:52:38.199
at all to competition? It's different, but I

00:52:38.199 --> 00:52:43.380
feel like reclimbing on rocks, you can get the

00:52:43.380 --> 00:52:49.340
basic endurance. So yeah, I feel like if you

00:52:49.340 --> 00:52:52.340
do it a little bit during the training sessions

00:52:52.340 --> 00:52:54.800
or in the beginning of the season or something

00:52:54.800 --> 00:52:59.599
like that, it's helpful, definitely. But yeah,

00:52:59.760 --> 00:53:03.920
a long rock climbing trip during the season,

00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:07.860
it's not. Probably my coach would not be happy

00:53:07.860 --> 00:53:12.619
with that. Yeah, if that makes sense. Okay, so

00:53:12.619 --> 00:53:14.699
then outside of climbing, do you have time for

00:53:14.699 --> 00:53:17.539
anything else, like any other hobbies, or is

00:53:17.539 --> 00:53:20.719
it busy with climbing in school? It's pretty

00:53:20.719 --> 00:53:24.119
busy with climbing in school, so I don't have

00:53:24.119 --> 00:53:29.980
a lot of specific hobbies. I like drawing, I

00:53:29.980 --> 00:53:33.400
like cooking and baking. I'm trying to get into

00:53:33.400 --> 00:53:40.030
reading. Okay, yeah. Sometimes I'm watching my

00:53:40.030 --> 00:53:42.670
mother's dog, so that's also a hobby, I think.

00:53:43.030 --> 00:53:46.289
I want to get my own dog in the future, but right

00:53:46.289 --> 00:53:49.429
now it's not the perfect time for that yet. It's

00:53:49.429 --> 00:53:52.610
a lot of work. Yeah, yeah. What kind of dog would

00:53:52.610 --> 00:53:57.469
you get? We have a Shih Tzu, like a small one,

00:53:57.570 --> 00:54:01.289
and I really want a long -haired Dasund. like

00:54:01.289 --> 00:54:05.349
the long one the tiny yeah those are actually

00:54:05.349 --> 00:54:07.849
my least favorite dogs in the whole world they

00:54:07.849 --> 00:54:11.130
were my least favorite but now they grew up to

00:54:11.130 --> 00:54:14.269
me i don't know well what did you not like before

00:54:14.269 --> 00:54:17.309
i don't know they were weird oh they were like

00:54:17.309 --> 00:54:21.750
yeah i don't know but they're there's they can

00:54:21.750 --> 00:54:24.210
have a lot of problems with their back and legs

00:54:24.210 --> 00:54:26.929
and stuff because they're right yeah weirdly

00:54:26.929 --> 00:54:32.260
shaped um but yeah and also Luca wants this kind

00:54:32.260 --> 00:54:35.480
of dog so we will have two I want Shih Tzu and

00:54:35.480 --> 00:54:38.500
he wants that so we'll have both but like when

00:54:38.500 --> 00:54:41.800
maybe when some Sunday when we move to the house

00:54:41.800 --> 00:54:45.760
um we went we want to have like a bigger dog

00:54:45.760 --> 00:54:50.260
but bigger dogs are not apartment friendly I

00:54:50.260 --> 00:54:52.920
mean it would be okay but it's not so fun for

00:54:52.920 --> 00:54:55.920
them even for a tiny dog I feel like it's way

00:54:55.920 --> 00:54:59.070
more happy They have a garden and stuff like

00:54:59.070 --> 00:55:01.949
that. Yeah. I just got to warn you about the

00:55:01.949 --> 00:55:07.070
dachshunds. So like I do some dachshunding and

00:55:07.070 --> 00:55:12.150
I've watched two dachshunds and they're both

00:55:12.150 --> 00:55:15.889
total nightmares. They bark all the time and

00:55:15.889 --> 00:55:18.809
they have like a really loud bark. They have

00:55:18.809 --> 00:55:23.389
a really loud bark. And the one I watched, I

00:55:23.389 --> 00:55:25.849
was house sitting. So I wasn't staying at my

00:55:25.849 --> 00:55:28.050
place. I went to their house and I stayed there.

00:55:28.590 --> 00:55:32.989
And the dog was like really scared of the outside.

00:55:33.050 --> 00:55:36.550
So it didn't really go to the bathroom outside

00:55:36.550 --> 00:55:40.429
much. And so they just put pee pads inside. And

00:55:40.429 --> 00:55:44.329
so. He would just go on the pee pad, but it wouldn't

00:55:44.329 --> 00:55:46.269
really be on the pee pad. It would be like next

00:55:46.269 --> 00:55:49.869
to the pee pad. And then he would also sometimes

00:55:49.869 --> 00:55:53.650
not go on the pee pad. And he would also just

00:55:53.650 --> 00:55:55.690
like sometimes poop anywhere. And then I would

00:55:55.690 --> 00:56:00.369
later find it. So, yeah, that's one thing. But

00:56:00.369 --> 00:56:03.449
I feel like that can happen with any dog. That's

00:56:03.449 --> 00:56:06.789
true. You need to train. You need to still train

00:56:06.789 --> 00:56:10.920
them even in their time. That's true. But what

00:56:10.920 --> 00:56:12.920
makes me think it's a dachshund thing is that

00:56:12.920 --> 00:56:16.099
there's also this dachshund on TikTok that I

00:56:16.099 --> 00:56:20.840
saw that's like kind of cute, but that one also

00:56:20.840 --> 00:56:24.739
goes on a pee pad and misses the pee pad. And

00:56:24.739 --> 00:56:27.019
so now I'm thinking this is just a dachshund

00:56:27.019 --> 00:56:32.119
thing that they don't go outside. Maybe. So keep

00:56:32.119 --> 00:56:36.960
that in mind. I'm just saying. I will look into

00:56:36.960 --> 00:56:39.630
that before getting one. So I'm done with those.

00:56:39.829 --> 00:56:42.510
But yeah, you keep it in mind. Bring it up to

00:56:42.510 --> 00:56:46.250
him. See if that changes his mind at all. Yeah.

00:56:47.130 --> 00:56:49.550
I just, you know, I couldn't let you get one

00:56:49.550 --> 00:56:52.510
without getting that out there. Noted. Cool.

00:56:53.889 --> 00:56:56.869
So, yeah, those were all my questions. There

00:56:56.869 --> 00:56:58.889
are a few audience questions left, so we'll get

00:56:58.889 --> 00:57:03.510
into those real quick. The first one from Val1355.

00:57:04.150 --> 00:57:06.610
How do you manage anxiety on the wall and are

00:57:06.610 --> 00:57:10.250
you afraid of falling? um I'm actually not afraid

00:57:10.250 --> 00:57:16.489
of falling and um I feel like with managing anxiety

00:57:16.489 --> 00:57:20.289
on the wall I kind of especially when I'm on

00:57:20.289 --> 00:57:24.449
comms I'm in the zone so then anxiety is not

00:57:24.449 --> 00:57:27.590
really getting into me but on training sometimes

00:57:27.590 --> 00:57:31.510
it happens you just like try to if you're like

00:57:31.510 --> 00:57:34.230
anxious about the move you just really need to

00:57:34.230 --> 00:57:36.869
decide before you go into the world just like

00:57:37.769 --> 00:57:41.869
grab a hold go like don't hesitate especially

00:57:41.869 --> 00:57:44.550
on the jump moves and stuff like that or something

00:57:44.550 --> 00:57:48.369
sketchy just need to like prepare yourself before

00:57:48.369 --> 00:57:52.510
you get to that point to like just do it yeah

00:57:52.510 --> 00:57:54.889
i think that's the the biggest thing you can

00:57:54.889 --> 00:57:58.170
do and then i guess you mentioned having some

00:57:58.170 --> 00:58:00.550
anxiety before you start the climb is there anything

00:58:00.550 --> 00:58:04.429
you do to help with that um i just try try to

00:58:04.429 --> 00:58:08.510
breathe it out a little bit and to calm my body

00:58:08.510 --> 00:58:12.570
because it's a nightmare if you have like a crazy

00:58:12.570 --> 00:58:15.449
beating heart before you go into the route um

00:58:15.449 --> 00:58:21.869
yeah but that's the comp and anxiety and nervousness

00:58:21.869 --> 00:58:26.949
is a longer process to like go around it you

00:58:26.949 --> 00:58:30.610
need to at first i think you need to be confident

00:58:30.610 --> 00:58:35.639
that you like are there because you are good

00:58:35.639 --> 00:58:39.619
enough and if you if you deal with that in a

00:58:39.619 --> 00:58:42.760
good way I think you do a big part around it

00:58:42.760 --> 00:58:48.340
because sometimes I feel for me it happened quite

00:58:48.340 --> 00:58:52.500
a lot of times that I was feeling like I'm not

00:58:52.500 --> 00:58:54.920
feeling into I don't know the world cup finals

00:58:54.920 --> 00:58:58.059
especially after disease and I don't know even

00:58:58.059 --> 00:59:01.440
the last season when I had good results I was

00:59:01.440 --> 00:59:04.929
like ah yeah that was I was lucky I I don't know.

00:59:04.989 --> 00:59:08.409
Others climbed bad and I climbed okay. And that's

00:59:08.409 --> 00:59:11.190
why I got into the finals. And yeah, that's a

00:59:11.190 --> 00:59:14.469
mindset that it's not really helping you. So

00:59:14.469 --> 00:59:18.869
yeah, you need to be confident that you're worth

00:59:18.869 --> 00:59:22.309
it. Yeah, definitely. How do you feel about looking

00:59:22.309 --> 00:59:25.070
at where the draws are swinging to determine

00:59:25.070 --> 00:59:29.030
how far you need to climb? I hate it. But you

00:59:29.030 --> 00:59:34.400
do it. Oh, really? Okay. For me, it's... not

00:59:34.400 --> 00:59:39.300
helping but you kind of like even if if you start

00:59:39.300 --> 00:59:42.360
more to the end of the semifinals you know if

00:59:42.360 --> 00:59:44.679
it's like taking a long time you know that the

00:59:44.679 --> 00:59:47.239
climbers are doing well or like climbing high

00:59:47.239 --> 00:59:52.139
so you get the idea during the time so it doesn't

00:59:52.139 --> 00:59:55.300
motivate you to be like oh this person got here

00:59:55.300 --> 00:59:57.980
so now I definitely have to get there sometimes

00:59:57.980 --> 01:00:01.380
it scares me that's that's not a good thing I

01:00:01.380 --> 01:00:04.670
think it should motivate you Or even to motivate

01:00:04.670 --> 01:00:08.949
you to get higher than that. But sometimes, yeah,

01:00:08.969 --> 01:00:11.489
I'm like, oh, shit, I need to get to there to

01:00:11.489 --> 01:00:17.030
make it to finals. The next one is from Henning

01:00:17.030 --> 01:00:19.750
and Moeller. How much has previous Slovenian

01:00:19.750 --> 01:00:21.949
legends influenced the strength of the lead team?

01:00:22.329 --> 01:00:24.150
Or I guess, is there anyone you particularly

01:00:24.150 --> 01:00:28.510
look up to? I feel like the lead team was quite

01:00:28.510 --> 01:00:34.780
big in the history. So, yeah, we had quite a

01:00:34.780 --> 01:00:41.559
few legends in the past. So, yeah, I think that's

01:00:41.559 --> 01:00:45.500
a good motivation for us. And, I mean, the styles

01:00:45.500 --> 01:00:49.800
changed completely. Right. Like, if you look

01:00:49.800 --> 01:00:52.159
at the times when, I don't know, Mina and Maya

01:00:52.159 --> 01:00:54.559
were competing, they were completely different.

01:00:54.739 --> 01:00:59.570
It was just, like, the pure endurance. Now it's

01:00:59.570 --> 01:01:02.409
quite different, but I still feel like the history

01:01:02.409 --> 01:01:05.909
we have, it's quite motivating. I guess, how

01:01:05.909 --> 01:01:08.570
has it changed? Is it just like more powerful

01:01:08.570 --> 01:01:11.250
moves? Yeah, everything changed. I mean, the

01:01:11.250 --> 01:01:13.710
holds changed, the moves are more powerful. It's

01:01:13.710 --> 01:01:19.130
more bouldery, where there are some bouldery

01:01:19.130 --> 01:01:23.730
moves in the route. Everything is more, yeah,

01:01:23.769 --> 01:01:27.880
the moves are not so safe. You're climbing very

01:01:27.880 --> 01:01:30.579
statically before and now everything is a bit

01:01:30.579 --> 01:01:35.619
more complex, a bit more weird. It's way different

01:01:35.619 --> 01:01:39.179
than it was before. Okay. And then let's do one

01:01:39.179 --> 01:01:43.980
last one from Kevin344777. How many routes do

01:01:43.980 --> 01:01:46.300
you usually climb in a lead session and how hard

01:01:46.300 --> 01:01:50.139
are they? Probably that's meant for the big league

01:01:50.139 --> 01:01:54.059
or normal training. Yeah, for normal training.

01:01:54.460 --> 01:01:57.059
For normal training, yeah, we do, I don't know,

01:01:57.099 --> 01:02:00.900
if I'm warming up on a big wall, I do like three

01:02:00.900 --> 01:02:04.619
warm -ups. One is like really easy and then one

01:02:04.619 --> 01:02:10.320
semi -hard and then one harder. Then I usually

01:02:10.320 --> 01:02:13.880
do like five hard routes. And that depends, the

01:02:13.880 --> 01:02:15.860
grades depend on like where you're climbing.

01:02:16.019 --> 01:02:19.099
It's not the same, but usually like from, I don't

01:02:19.099 --> 01:02:22.289
know. hb plus to hc plus it's something around

01:02:22.289 --> 01:02:24.389
that it also it depends if you're like trying

01:02:24.389 --> 01:02:27.349
to do just endurance stuff it should be like

01:02:27.349 --> 01:02:30.469
the route that it's kind of your level or maybe

01:02:30.469 --> 01:02:32.349
you fall a few moves before the top or something

01:02:32.349 --> 01:02:36.369
like that and if you're having more of a power

01:02:36.369 --> 01:02:39.530
session then you can do a harder route to like

01:02:39.530 --> 01:02:43.130
do hard moves and try to fight on the hard moves

01:02:43.130 --> 01:02:47.250
um but like it's also like for me as i said the

01:02:47.820 --> 01:02:51.219
the power endurance aspect is pretty low. So

01:02:51.219 --> 01:02:54.760
it's nice for me to do some harder routes and

01:02:54.760 --> 01:02:57.239
try to like connect as much moves as possible.

01:02:58.079 --> 01:03:00.860
Like to have a different mindset about it, not

01:03:00.860 --> 01:03:03.820
really to top the route, but like to do the most

01:03:03.820 --> 01:03:07.219
hard moves you can in like one go. And then would

01:03:07.219 --> 01:03:11.480
you say the actual routes during the World Series

01:03:11.480 --> 01:03:14.559
are a bit easier than that? Yeah. Yeah, I think

01:03:14.559 --> 01:03:17.079
so. Yeah. I think you, on the trainees, you...

01:03:17.369 --> 01:03:19.769
Yeah, everybody, I think, trains on the harder

01:03:19.769 --> 01:03:22.349
routes than they are on the World Cups. I mean,

01:03:22.369 --> 01:03:25.349
it depends on the World Cup and depends on the

01:03:25.349 --> 01:03:29.409
route, but usually, especially this year, the

01:03:29.409 --> 01:03:34.530
semifinals were... I mean, it's... Even the style

01:03:34.530 --> 01:03:37.429
of the route on the World Cup is completely different

01:03:37.429 --> 01:03:40.070
than training route. So it's hard to compare

01:03:40.070 --> 01:03:43.510
it. Even sometimes, if I'm asked about what grade

01:03:43.510 --> 01:03:46.730
I think the route on the World Cup is, I... I

01:03:46.730 --> 01:03:50.110
don't know. Because it's more sketchy, it's more

01:03:50.110 --> 01:03:54.710
complicated. I feel like especially on the beginning

01:03:54.710 --> 01:03:57.190
of the route, they want to do something more

01:03:57.190 --> 01:04:01.090
sketchy, but not sketchy hard, but just uncomfortable.

01:04:01.510 --> 01:04:04.710
Yeah. So it messes up with you a little bit.

01:04:06.710 --> 01:04:09.949
But yeah, I feel like if you would do those kind

01:04:09.949 --> 01:04:13.230
of routes on the training, they would be easier

01:04:13.230 --> 01:04:17.510
because you don't have the... stress point of

01:04:17.510 --> 01:04:21.610
the comp in your head but on the comp yeah everything

01:04:21.610 --> 01:04:24.750
is a bit harder because of the stress factor

01:04:24.750 --> 01:04:28.050
yeah yeah definitely I guess that just kind of

01:04:28.050 --> 01:04:31.190
brings to mind for me it sounds like they kind

01:04:31.190 --> 01:04:33.869
of set the beginning in the middle and the end

01:04:33.869 --> 01:04:36.210
maybe a bit differently like how would you characterize

01:04:36.210 --> 01:04:38.730
those different parts of the route yeah I think

01:04:38.730 --> 01:04:42.889
usually the the beginning beginning is pretty

01:04:42.889 --> 01:04:46.460
easy usually it's not that hard especially this

01:04:46.460 --> 01:04:49.760
year was like pretty easy like the first few

01:04:49.760 --> 01:04:52.960
pre -draws and then usually there is something

01:04:52.960 --> 01:04:56.519
a bit sketchy or weird or there is jump or something

01:04:56.519 --> 01:04:59.119
like that just to mess with you a little bit

01:04:59.119 --> 01:05:05.960
and yeah then some prob most of the times it's

01:05:05.960 --> 01:05:11.280
like a endurance session section um maybe with

01:05:11.280 --> 01:05:16.139
some harder moves and And the last part is just

01:05:16.139 --> 01:05:21.860
like, bumpy, hard. It depends as well if it's

01:05:21.860 --> 01:05:25.219
a qualifier, semi -final or final. But yeah,

01:05:25.340 --> 01:05:29.639
every round it gets more complex. But I think

01:05:29.639 --> 01:05:35.860
the semi -finals are usually not the hardest,

01:05:35.980 --> 01:05:41.179
but in the finals they want to do more fun moves.

01:05:42.170 --> 01:05:46.530
funky moves for the crowd um so i feel like the

01:05:46.530 --> 01:05:49.150
the level of the route maybe it's the hardest

01:05:49.150 --> 01:05:51.750
in semi -final sometimes it's not sometimes it

01:05:51.750 --> 01:05:55.289
is it's yeah it depends okay good to know well

01:05:55.289 --> 01:05:57.389
i think those are all the questions i had then

01:05:57.389 --> 01:06:01.469
thanks for joining um any last minute words of

01:06:01.469 --> 01:06:04.010
wisdom or things you want to shout out words

01:06:04.010 --> 01:06:07.809
of wisdom no not really i mean you've been on

01:06:07.809 --> 01:06:10.190
the circuit for a long time so i feel like there's

01:06:10.190 --> 01:06:12.800
a lot you must know Yeah, I feel like at the

01:06:12.800 --> 01:06:15.260
end you just need to train hard, believe in yourself,

01:06:15.460 --> 01:06:20.920
and if you love climbing, then try to do the

01:06:20.920 --> 01:06:25.099
best and enjoy it as much as you can. Okay. Do

01:06:25.099 --> 01:06:26.420
you want to let people know where they can find

01:06:26.420 --> 01:06:30.880
you? On Instagram? That's the only channel I'm

01:06:30.880 --> 01:06:33.800
active on. I'm really bad with social media,

01:06:33.880 --> 01:06:36.420
so maybe I should work on that a little bit.

01:06:36.639 --> 01:06:41.119
Okay. I will link that down below then. Okay,

01:06:41.260 --> 01:06:43.239
cool. Well, thank you again. And it was awesome

01:06:43.239 --> 01:06:45.739
to talk to you. Yep. Thank you for having me.

01:06:45.820 --> 01:06:48.519
Thank you for listening to this episode of the

01:06:48.519 --> 01:06:51.300
That's Not Real Climbing podcast. If you've been

01:06:51.300 --> 01:06:53.579
enjoying the podcast, I would appreciate if you

01:06:53.579 --> 01:06:56.280
like it on YouTube or rate it on your podcasting

01:06:56.280 --> 01:06:59.260
platform. And please leave a comment or reach

01:06:59.260 --> 01:07:02.139
out at any time if you have any thoughts. I try

01:07:02.139 --> 01:07:05.610
to read all of the messages. If you want to continue

01:07:05.610 --> 01:07:08.329
the discussion, join the free competition climbing

01:07:08.329 --> 01:07:11.469
discord where we chat live during the World Series

01:07:11.469 --> 01:07:14.789
comps and talk all things climbing. The link

01:07:14.789 --> 01:07:17.309
is in the description and see you next time.