Joe Rogan Experience #1571 — Emily Harrington Transcript

Transcript

0:00 the joe rogan experience train by day joe rogan podcast by night all day I do use ropes. So I did what's called free climbing. I don't think it really matters. because that's the route that Alex Honnold free soloed, meaning he climbed it without a rope. You bonked your head while you're doing it too, huh? How high were you up? It's different because there's a lot more logistics involved, right?

4:07 like plastic bags and you like go in that bag and then you put it in another bag and Like the Michael Jackson song. It's a famous song. The human body is like, humans are really remarkable well this is kind of normal. So like if you roll out, you know, if you're one of those No. That's just like his waist no that's just He's a maniac. I believe it was a table saw accident,

6:43 ultimate climbing hero. especially with what Alex does, climb without a rope. that's an achievement that not many people have done or really strive to do. So if you're a person like Alex is deciding, And I think anyone that watches the movie Free Solo, And climbing is very much more about like the movement and the challenge I grew up with my two cousins who were boys.

10:15 thing that happened when I was climbing was it was just this feeling of like oh I this is what I I was a ski racer. loved that cerebral like how how am I going to get to the top like how am I going to solve this It's called the Boulder Rock Club. it's pretty easy to go still go climbing, you could go to the gym. That said, it's very much it's a little bit experimental though honestly i've i've been working towards

14:09 a mental component so I had to sort of get my head back especially after my accident last year I had or do you just do it yourself? Is it an intuition? Like you just like have a sense of I'm pretty flexible, but I do not just climb. Like if that's what you're asking, I do a lot Yeah. So they think that just exhausting your legs from running will mess you up when you're

17:00 Well, that's my philosophy. write it out? Like what, like when Emily wakes or endurance and that's sort of how i structure it and i i climb i do i do hangboard workouts I like it. really focused on. Like a lot of times when you're climbing and you get really tired, a lot of times you'll feel it in your forearms. They'll get really like recovery and making sure like do you do any of that where you wake up in the morning and you

20:21 Oh, no, I'm not recovered. when you're doing something that's literally I know you're saying it's relatively safe but So now this day I'm going to run or this day I'm going to do fingerboard exercises. that actually gives me a mind fuck versus, I think it messes with me a little bit. And so to a certain extent, I'm a little more focused on like my own mental state and my own like psychology and sort of like, you know, trying to just figure out how to have confidence up there.

22:44 It's about a climber about a guy who all these different peaks and all these different peaks and all these different mountains and to become obsessed with because there's so many different facets to experience it in. Like you can some sort of strange it's a chase of a mental state. There seems to be a mental exploring achievement and success and ego and confidence. And, you know, I think you could

26:35 Well, no nothing saving him yeah my hands start sweating yeah i can't handle no i think all our hands sweat and tried to, you know, figure out if there was anything super serious. And turns out that there So I was climbing this pitch. Like it's just the heat, the heat radiates off the rock. and I just didn't I just didn't anticipate like the physics of how I was gonna fall and I kind

29:44 And so there was a Uh-huh. But I had this crazy rope burn on my neck. Um, and it was, I walked out of the hospital that day, which is incredible. something called simul climbing um we were so we were essentially i was tied onto the top of the Yeah. it's pretty like it's it's hard it was hard i didn't watch it for the first few months i was part of me was like well I just want to give up like I don't want to do this anymore

34:19 activities and he's like super passionate about everything and this was his dream was to like go He's 65 years old. suffering from some at least concussion symptoms you were climbing yeah not recommended Like I simply had not placed enough protection for the difficulty of the route. gave yourself a lot of space I did I gave myself a lot of space because I'd done it so many times before. And I wanted to, so I only had, you only have like a certain number, like a certain amount of pieces of gear, right? And Alex and I were trying to go really fast and climb the first part of the route within, you know, within a couple hours. And so I was trying to conserve the gear. So I was trying to like not use it very often so we could cover more distance in in one go you

37:41 with Alex simul climbing it but still placing gear. And then during my try this year, I actually told Alex because he was, he's definitely before. Just don't fall. Just don't fall this time, Emily. Yeah. Kind of simple. A little bit. important for me too i'm kind of obsessed with having chalk i don't have chalk i just won't more confident i feel more capable i tend to climb better um even though he kind of gives me shit all

40:46 practice things that you want to be better at with people who are better than you. Yeah, for sure. the day and then I didn't climb again until maybe three weeks later what do you do to try to recover Now, do you do this professionally? And before that, I was like doing a lot of competitions and, you know, had sponsors and stuff like that. go back my mindset i think i was 20 years old like i didn't really you know i didn't have like

44:25 Face is the main one and it's essentially I mean yeah it's essentially like kind of it's like a be lying if i said that i didn't feel sometimes a little bit of like imposter syndrome you know kind of like oh like do I actually deserve this like that happens with everybody though yeah I Yeah. I've, you're not gonna have that extra edge. you're doing a superhuman thing

47:16 we want to know I'm terrified I mean, how many professional rock climbers are there yeah i mean there's there's a few there's not many they do it as an olympic sport they have a particular path that you have to try to climb up element there's like a lot of jumping around yeah there you go whoa um lots of like big features That's my estimate. In a lot of ways, it's better to be taller, but in other ways, it's sometimes better to

50:37 you like work on your flexibility just specifically for that i should i don't there's a lot of this And it's just speed. It doesn't seem real. Whoops. and other things like mountains and all these other disciplines what is this person doing because it's it's such a different it's a different it's almost like a different sport I bring those pull up bars that you like screw on between the door jam and then I hang it

53:43 Do you do reps? mono yeah mono someone can hang from one finger people can do crazy stuff people can do pull-ups That's crazy that he can do that. Is this him climbing stuff with no feet? That's crazy. How's that possible? not like if you've done other work Maybe. Your pinky provides half your hand strength. there's a lot going on yeah it's all working together yeah so when you do your hand strength

57:03 Yeah, it's an interesting subject because climbing is like a strength to weight and then once you take it too far, from it when i was younger when i was in heavily involved in competitions like and it's like once That, that the edge that you get from doing that is not worth pursuing because there's a too much data and not enough just being. great but you weigh 145 pounds like shit i hate that i want to be 135 like but you don't like this is crazy like what

1:00:08 amazing shape but she's a big gal but by getting on that scale and showing like hey like fuck your Like, that's nonsense. that's one of the things that's been, She's hot. Yeah. you know she's struggling and she doesn't think she is and it's a real issue and i don't know I'm fine. Do you have specific foods that you eat when you train or do you just always maintain a

1:04:17 carb load before you do it do you carry a lot of food with you or yeah i carry a lot of food with good too to get some extra sugar yeah that exactly why yeah and replace the you wearing oh i have this um it's, actually. Adrian got it for me. It measures your heart rate. Of course. Yeah. some of that's going on about that stuff it's like don't those break off sometimes yeah it it happens occasionally yep

1:08:15 They don't have as much. when he was free soloing and i'm like what what what are you doing that's not holding your body I'll go through the moves In sort of a Emily code? this is what I want I there i'm super excited for future opportunities on on separate trips sometimes and you know instead of the other person just like sitting a chef and they were it works out great but a lot of them they'll try like regular people and they wind up dating comedians because like no one's gonna

1:12:09 What are you doing today, Bob? The Mount Everest thing is an odd one, right? Yeah. I have a very intense or on the next expedition or thinking about the expedition. we lost him it's over he's right there he's right there no no it's over leave him you gotta go Potentially. Oh, they might not have ever actually made it to the top? George Mallory and Sandy Irvine like went out to go climb Mount Everest.

1:15:35 George Mallory and Sandy the 90s and as the story goes he was meant to like leave a photo of his wife every time i look at it because that guy is rock solid frozen there like like a piece of stone is crazy this is really hard so i think this is it's one of the rare moments in life where i think yeah but is k2 the highest in terms of its relation to the ocean or sea level like no that's

1:19:17 very commercialized um so there's a lot of companies that guide mount everest including Alpenglohexpeditions.com. There's the website. And both of those governments obviously benefit from that. and you have a lot of inexperienced guiding going on. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, Iceman. And Will. No oxygen. Well, it is mental strength, but it's also breathing. a total of 16 times,

1:23:13 swim under ice 57 fucking meters under ice jesus that's long yeah have you ever done like those I thought it was just a – for him it was just like a mental strength thing. And so he's in there with like 33 degree water, roof when you get out of there you feel amazing yeah like cryotherapy like i had uh dr ronda She was like, this is amazing. and then relaying them to you as she's experiencing them wow yeah it's pretty intense have you done

1:25:30 And people have actually died doing that. in the room and you could breathe it in. out here it may be there's apparently one out here like that that does uh full body does it I have certain songs that I listen to like that I know I'm going to be freezing my ass I'm like, let's see. And supposedly there's a significant benefit in doing it two times.

1:27:40 Sauna, on the other hand, they think you should do right after training. heat shock proteins that reduce inflammation. So you feel really good so that you can do that You can't believe how cold it is. seminar and we had these kiddie pools with ice in them and we all had to get in and sing twinkle and then you climb in this ridiculously cold water water and everybody says that that's a better

1:30:09 Those are those things that like a lot of runners put on. Yeah. It recommends to do, what is is it like 20 to 60 minutes i think i just did 30 just just to try it but and then i did another 45 minute session the next day did it did you feel better can't sit still i can't keep my legs still i feel like i have to kick them or still right now right But I don't think that's what it is, and there's got to be studies that people have looked into that.

1:31:50 Because there's like commercials that would pop up on TV for like some pills for it or something. I mean, I'm not saying, like, I'm a doctor. And what's dope is you can put the boots on and just watch TV, right? Oh. All right. Love them. it's like you can watch a video of like a yoga class basically and i'm really bad at going to yoga classes i actually

1:33:53 and I don't think I have and I'll just do that. the exercise because then you're not relying on intuition you're relying on someone to tell you a dumbbell and just like lift them up like this eyes wise and t's oh yeah i do those yeah okay My shoulder constantly feels like it's on the verge of getting injured, but they you you you do them so like if it's on a door or wall you like you would put one on one

1:37:10 Like, they go up to really, like, I mostly use, like, a 25-pound one, I love it. being 30 day shoulder fix there you go what i was asking about being a professional athlete i mean And there is a lot of uncertainty. For instance, like if you do get injured, it's also temporary, right? but i don't know how else to say it no it's the best way to say it i just have like a glorified

1:40:58 So are you thinking about writing a book or a documentary? a few weeks ago and like showed us just like the storyline and it's just like four hours of like my trippy for sure that's wild yeah so is he gonna do that and try to sell it to netflix or something also again this dedication to this one singular obsession yeah you know and that's kind of like a

1:43:55 to sleep in the forest and climb mountains yeah in a way i think you know that's what made them i'm not like core you know if that makes sense oh because you have sponsors Yeah. Yeah. many people there that are just filled with hate. I learned that one. like fuck emily that bitch you know like there's Yeah. about Hollywood, like moving out here has made me realize how tainted the entire city is by the desire that people have to be chosen to be on things, to be chosen to be on a television show

1:49:20 know like your own there's there's it's pros and cons like don't get me wrong there's there's And that can be a problem too because then you're not as free. like i don't know how it happened but essentially like the domino effect of like someone changed the little bit mortifying because i i i grew up in the same town as lynn like i was brought it i knew her

1:52:23 first woman so it was just kind of me being like oh no like i didn't i didn't do that i i didn't i don't want it to be this way climbed the nose which is a different route um and then free climbing el cap in a day is just i wasn't that bummed about it but i was sort of like okay this is how it goes like i'm getting a That's the problem. Yeah. And I think, you know, I don't think it's really changed much. It's definitely made me feel

1:55:30 Do they? The one thing that they're starting to get into that I'm still not quite there yet, Yeah, they can't help themselves. You know, I think it's interesting when things become viral. Like so simple. it was a moment in time Yeah. like oh it just made me smile yeah you know so you send it to your friend yeah it makes them smile that like and i was like well i just didn't have to doom scroll all

1:58:25 I care about the environment There's no skiing if everything gets warm me the most is like the hatred that we all have for the other side and that's us versus them type that used to be like heavy duty left wing what you talked about that the climate and the environment could in any way be political that That seems so nuts that so i think you know one of the important things is to is to show people what like nature has to

2:02:18 I guess, is to make it more accessible to people. Let them experience it, experience what it does. get away from like the idea that outdoors is like so extreme and it's for people who do what I do. a house and a shelter yeah and when you go outside of the shelter like oh my goodness you're outdoors Yeah. Everything's supposed to be in the woods and the mountains and the wilderness and lakes and streams and the ocean.

2:04:57 Well, and I think that's one of the reasons why people are so depressed. the sun are hitting the trees and it's all green and lush and you see birds flying around you like there's like these cues We're a crazy animal. and so unhappy you just like live in an inner city like in a park yeah a park exactly i mean anything we need going outdoors more not in la not in la they won't even let you go to the fucking park they're crazy

2:08:46 Yeah. There are people. near me that was saying that they literally have a hard time keeping bikes in stock yeah that's you know, for a lot of people, what's important to you and change where your priorities are and change just maybe your path Yeah, I'm going to climb forever, I think. Thank you very much for being here Emily.