Mina Leslie-Wujastyk is a professional climber from the UK. She is also a writer, speaker, and co-host of the Curious Climber Podcast along with Hazel Findlay. We talked about her early life, impermanence, flow state, learning to try really hard, how she made the switch from hard boulders to hard sport routes, what sets high-level climbers apart, and the decision to become a mom.
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Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/mina-leslie-wujastyk
Nuggets:
0:05:52 – Baby life
0:09:40 – How Mina and I met, and her road trip to the US in 2012
0:14:18 – Mina at age 25, and competing on the World Cup circuit
0:18:10 – Project mentality, quick sends, and unfinished business
0:21:02 – Patron question from Konstantinos, and Mina’s first gym and early climbing mentors
0:24:27 – Living in India as a kid and how that shaped Mina’s worldview
0:30:28 – Impermanence, and the lesson Mina learned from her dad as an early teenager
0:33:09 – Being exposed to both indoor and outdoor climbing as a kid
0:35:22 – Doing both route climbing and bouldering as a teenager, bouldering as social-climbing, and making the British team
0:38:03 – Mina’s first trip to Rocklands South Africa and more about her road trip around the US
0:40:14 – Bouldering in the South East (US) and climbing in the Red River Gorge
0:42:01 – Loving climbing, pushing too hard, and crashing
0:47:52 – The challenge makes the experience
0:51:55 – Flow and highballing
0:58:16 – How climbing ethics shape our experience
1:00:43 – Why do we seek flow?
1:03:12 – Tapping into our most primal selves
1:04:46 – An excerpt from Mina’s article: ‘Pushing It’, and British ascents
1:08:11 – Learning to try really hard, and the yin and the yang
1:12:52 – Unfinished business
1:16:28 – ‘Just Do It’
1:19:27 – What lead Mina to shift her focus to sport climbing
1:22:44 – Climbing the 70m ‘Totally Free 2’ in one pitch, and stashing candy in her sports bra
1:28:48 – How aerobic capacity training (Aero Cap) helped her transition to sport climbing
1:35:19 – What sets high-level boulders apart, and how good tactics make the difference
1:40:25 – What specific tactics Mina learned from her partner David, and a funny story
1:45:35 – What sets high-level sport climbers apart, and Mina’s experience on ‘Nordic Plumber’
1:49:20 – “Climbing isn’t just about being fit and strong, it’s about being clever and creative”
1:50:54 – Mina’s thoughts on returning to ‘Rainshadow’, and two bad accidents
1:57:52 – The decision to have a kid
2:03:52 – RED-S, and how her recovery led to the decision to have Isaac
2:07:26 – The best surprises with becoming a mom, and the miracle of pregnancy
2:11:13 – Question from Anna about training during pregnancy
2:15:58 – Studying nutrition, and thoughts on nutrition during pregnancy
2:18:22 – What led to starting The Curious Climber Podcast, and recommended episodes (linked in show notes)
2:23:54 – Wrap up
EP 175: Ady Wright — The Pressure of Opportunity, Acts of Rebellion, and Eating Oreos for Breakfast
EP 174: Bernd Zangerl — Developing World-Class Bouldering in the Himalayas, Entering the Easiness, and the Power of the Mind
Follow-Up: Hazel Findlay — Top 3 Performance Hacks (Teaser)
EP 173: Louis Parkinson — How to Break Down Dynamic Movements, the Benefits of Indoor Climbing, and Cultivating Confidence
EP 172: Brittany Leavitt — Seeking Change in Climbing, Unmasking, and Top Lessons From Teaching Kids
EP 171: Leo Houlding — A Life of Adventure, Climbing Big Walls With Kids, and Epic Stories From El Cap
BONUS: Ron Kauk — Spiritual Revolution for Evolution
EP 170: Karly Rager & Casey Elliott — What the Data Says About Weight, Height, and Ape Index, and Which Metrics Matter for Climbing Performance
Follow-Up: Steve Bechtel — Active Recovery: Everything You Need to Know (Teaser)
EP 169: Scott Johnston — A Masterclass in Training Principles, and Why Boulderers Should Train Their Aerobic System
EP 168: Don McGrath — Rewriting Unhelpful Scripts, How to Tackle Fear of Falling, and Playing as We Age
Climbing Gold — Hot Henry
EP 167: Alex Honnold — Epic Solos That Nobody Heard About, Near Misses, and Sh*tting His Pants While Free Soloing
EP 166: Will Bosi — Sending ‘Burden of Dreams’ V17, Dream Projects, and Functional Finger Strength vs. Party Tricks
Follow-Up: Katie Lamb — Sending ‘Spectre’ V14, and Breaking Down Crux Moves (Teaser)
EP 165: Charlie Schreiber — Asking "Why", Squeezing Lemons, and How to Have a Good Poop in the Morning, Every Time
EP 164: Melina Costanza — Why Eating Food Makes You Awesome, Competing to Win vs. Not Lose, and Fun Facts With Melina
Follow-Up: Matt Heyliger — How I Rehabbed My Bicep Tendon Injury, and How to Make the Transition From Rehab Back to Training (Teaser)
EP 163: Johnny Dawes — Legendary No-Hands Climbs, How to Master Footwork, and Life Lessons From Omelets to Icebergs
EP 162: Fundamentals — How to Structure Your Climbing Year
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