Insights Through Injury & Failure with Professional Climber and Coach Dan Mirsky

We have a special guest this week, professional sport climber and coach, Dan Mirsky. Over a twenty plus year career, Dan has not only become one of the best climbers in the world, he’s also become a highly sought after coach with a wealth of knowledge that transcends climbing and sport. But, that journey hasn’t been linear. In today’s call, Dan talks about a herniated disc injury in his lower lumbar spine and associated nerve pain that he sustained in 2019. The injury ultimately resulted in an open discectomy with laminectomy surgery and a challenging, year-long, non-linear recovery process that had him questioning if he’d ever climb at a high level again. Through our discussion, Dan talks about dealing with navigating uncertainty and shares the valuable insights that played an integral role in his ability to work through the injury and recovery process to achieve new heights in his climbing in the years post-op. Throughout the call, we touch on specific tools for navigating challenges, the importance of mindfulness and mastery, as well as balancing outcome and process oriented goals. Dan also takes us on a deep dive into coping with failure, recognizing symptoms of burnout and the steps he takes for dealing with those feelings and sensations in order to perpetuate his love and passion for climbing forward long-term. There are so many overlaps and takeaways from this conversation that apply to runners and endurance athletes, but even moreso, they transcend sport completely. I hope you enjoy this call! If you’re a long time listener of this podcast, please do us a favor and rate and review us on your preferred listening platform. This helps us continue to build our community and get more interesting and important conversations out there. As usual, if you have any feedback, a question for a future call or are looking for support in your running journey, please visit us on the web at microcosm-coaching.com or contact us at microcosmcoaching@gmail.com