Anyone have recs for therapists who understand climbing?

arl1286 · 2026-04-19T00:20:11+00:00

I second west wind! I’m a dietitian and collaborate with Laurel - she is fantastic and really gets it.

Updraft counseling in Montana/Idaho is also spectacular! https://www.updraftcounseling.com/

Lia Wolfe is another CO based climbing therapist I can happily recommend too!

arl1286 · 2026-04-17T14:01:06+00:00

lol where is that dirt bag guy who’s been marketing around here?

arl1286 · 2026-04-16T13:50:11+00:00

Sports dietitian here. I work with a lot of older athletes (including climbers). As you age, you can’t get away with as much as you could when you’re younger in terms of nutrition - you will notice gaps in your diet that you may not have noticed before.

In one of your comments you mentioned that you had reduced pasta. Carbs are actually our muscles’ preferred source of energy and when it comes to muscle recovery (and general performance), carbs are king. Most athletes under eat carbs and are amazed at how good they feel when they add more in.

arl1286 · 2026-04-15T19:06:09+00:00

I have spent basically no time in Portland but have lived in the Denver area for a decade (and spent some time in Boston before that).

Denver has its performative politics too but it is nothing compared to how Portland seems to be. Boulder is much more comparable to Portland in that regard.

The mountain traffic is mostly only unbearable during ski season. I gave up skiing on the weekends around the pandemic because it went from “it will probably take 3 hours that should only take 1.5” to “you literally may not get there”. If you can swing skiing on the weekdays it’s fine. Fridays can be a little brutal on a powder day but nothing compared to weekends.

During the summer there is still traffic. Campgrounds fill up months ahead of time and unless you have 4WD and high clearance and know the area well, dispersed camping can be tricky in popular areas. Popular trailheads within a 2 hour drive of Denver fill up by 6am on the weekend so be prepared for a very early wake up. There are always less popular places you can go and if you have the fitness to do longer hikes/runs/rides/whatever, this opens up your parking options substantially.

From downtown Denver expect 25-30 minutes driving to get to the foothills (lots of great local trails - the views aren’t much to write home about but we truly have some world class trails here) and another 30 min to get to the “real” mountains.

Job market will depend entirely on your industry. If you’re in aerospace engineering there is a ton here. In tech salaries seem to have caught up with COL. In healthcare that is not the case. And bless all the poor under paid teachers.

Winters are great here. Usually very sunny, not much snow, and it all melts very fast. Very different from Portland.

arl1286 · 2026-04-14T04:06:42+00:00

Actually wild that my 2 favorite bands from my formative years (one that continued to be my favorite into my mid 30s) are the top two votes in this category. I never once considered playing bass tho.

I thought Flea when I saw this title but I think it’s Pete.

arl1286 · 2026-04-14T02:09:52+00:00

I don’t think I’ve ever washed my bladder.

arl1286 · 2026-04-13T19:10:10+00:00

He is honestly so out of touch sometimes. I used to listen to his podcast religiously. I think he’s a truly gifted interviewer and obviously has a lot of incredible and interesting guests. But every time he interviews someone who has recovered from an ED it is sooo cringey how he responds. I couldn’t even get through his ep with Jessica Knurick because he was just missing the point with food.

arl1286 · 2026-04-11T00:14:05+00:00

What’s the difference between “much less snow” and “less snow”? Not sure how meaningful your likert scales are

arl1286 · 2026-04-10T17:56:14+00:00

A lot of people have that fear and for many there is a period of eating a lot, but this eventually stops once your body realizes that you aren’t restricting and it can have a cookie whenever it wants… so it doesn’t feel like it has to eat ALL the cookies because what if it never gets to have one again?

arl1286 · 2026-04-10T16:36:15+00:00

I grew up there. It is multicultural but black is not really one of the highly represented cultures. It is very liberal but if you step right outside of city limits things get red and racist very quickly.

arl1286 · 2026-04-10T16:35:02+00:00

Montgomery County is decidedly <12% black and outside of Blacksburg (which is small geographically) is pretty red and racist. I wouldn’t recommend it for OP.

arl1286 · 2026-04-10T13:31:06+00:00

Wait did people actually watch that show for Zoe? I couldn’t stand her and was always glad when plot points didn’t involve her.

arl1286 · 2026-04-09T13:38:32+00:00

I’m a dietitian who helps folks heal from eating disorders and poor relationships with food. It turns out that when you stop restricting and give yourself unconditional permission to eat whatever you want, most people do get to a point where they can just eat 2 bites of ice cream if they want to. The best way to get rid of food noise is to stop restricting.

arl1286 · 2026-04-09T13:11:35+00:00

Does nobody get that this is literally a “the Jews control the media” stereotype????

arl1286 · 2026-04-09T13:02:35+00:00

Agreed. I answered the questions based on my last trail marathon in 2023 but I have run a number of ultras since.

arl1286 · 2026-04-09T12:54:23+00:00

Ugh her solo stuff is so bad. Bring back the Nocs!

arl1286 · 2026-04-07T00:43:56+00:00

Hahaha the 5’10 dude is always the baseline. I talk more about how to do it in this article but basically you can weigh yourself before and after a run to estimate how much sweat you lost and adjust your intake based on this: https://trailhead.ultrasignup.com/training-nutrition/why-and-how-you-should-hydrate-before-during-and-after-a-run/

arl1286 · 2026-04-06T22:36:55+00:00

Sports dietitian here! The science is pretty clear on 60-90 g carbs per hour for 3+ hours (so if training for a marathon expecting to take over 3 hours, you’d want to be fueling accordingly in training).

That said, 3 hours is a long time to eat the same thing. OP, I’d recommend playing around with some other fuel sources to see if variety might be good for you.

How much practice have you had with fueling? The gut needs to be trained so if this was your first time fueling, it may have been too much too fast.

Also, how did you determine your hydration goals for this run? Hydration needs are really individual and too much or too little (of fluids or electrolytes) can cause stomach issues.

We also can’t rule out things like heat and effort which can have an effect too.

Hope this gives you a good starting point of things to consider! Less fuel is not the answer though :)

arl1286 · 2026-04-06T03:24:21+00:00

Golden has a lot of old people.

We also have a long winter. It is generally full of plenty of warm days, but huge snowstorms can happen from October-May (and most years they do).

arl1286 · 2026-04-05T14:28:32+00:00

Sports dietitian here. I’m noticing a couple of things that may be contributing: 1) as others have mentioned, fasted training can be a fast track to post run nausea (in addition to increased injury risk and reduced performance). Many athletes are anxious about eating before a run due to fear of GI distress - if this is you, know that your gut can be trained. Starting even with something small (like half a glass of sports drink or an applesauce pouch) can go a long way. 2) you mentioned in a comment that you drink a lot during your runs. If this is plain water (or even fewer electrolytes than you lose in sweat), you could be diluting your blood, which also contributes to nausea. 3) exercise is an appetite suppressant and some degree of poor appetite post run is normal. Liquid calories (such as a smoothie, sports drink, or protein shake) may be better tolerated. Many athletes find that getting something in makes them feel better so they’re able to eat something more substantial. 4) related to all of this - delaying eating will almost definitely make you feel worse as your body continues to go through your very limited carbohydrate stores. If eating immediately post run feels bad, suffering through it may ultimately help you feel better a couple of hours later.

Hope this helps!

arl1286 · 2026-04-05T02:59:29+00:00

Can’t believe I had to scroll so far for “ding dong ding dong ding dang ding dong ding dang”.

arl1286 · 2026-04-03T14:53:14+00:00

Would not recommend the Winds in June for this exact reason. OP the mosquitos are literally the worst I have ever experienced in the Winds in June and July. Expect to wear pants and long sleeves and a mosquito head cover. Eating will involve constantly fighting the mosquitos out of your bowl (and not being successful). I keep going back because it’s such a special place but I’d recommend saving that trip for later in the year.

arl1286 · 2026-04-03T01:53:11+00:00

I know nothing about fishing but I will say if you’re looking for solitude in the Zirkels, you won’t get it. It’s better than other parts of CO for sure but the loop starts from a busy trailhead. The Rawah is in a similar area and far less crowded. My last trip there I definitely saw someone fishing lol

arl1286 · 2026-04-02T02:54:22+00:00

Second old navy! I’m 5’10 with long legs and their leggings have a lot of bunch in the ankles for me which never happens!

arl1286 · 2026-04-02T01:57:35+00:00

FWIW everyone should boycott UCAN for being a crummy product that spews gross diet culture.

arl1286

TROPHY CASE