Mario Mola: I rest studying; is what gives me peace of mind | sports – Explica

Mario Mola (Palma de Mallorca, 29 years old) was passing through Madrid three weeks ago to attend to commitments with his sponsors and participate in a round table on technology and the human factor. On one of the breaks, he attended EL PAS in the garden of the Lzaro Galdiano Museum. The three-time world champion has already contested the first of the nine world series of 2019 (it was with a victory in Abu Dhabi on March 8). This Saturday in the second, which takes place in Bermuda, the faces with Javier Gmez Noya will be seen again after he left the Ironman to return to the Olympic distance.

Question. What is it like to live without a fixed home?

Answer. I guess everyone gets used to it. I still consider my parents house as home when I am back in Mallorca, which is not a long time a year (month and a half). I am lucky to be able to share this type of life with my girl, who is also a triathlete [Carolina Routier] and that in the end makes you turn into homes, even if they are passengers, the places you go through. We do not complain, I consider myself lucky to have made my hobby my job.

P. What is never missing in your suitcase?

R. Laptop, iPad, phone, I always travel with a few technological gadgets. We joke around a lot in the training group: if we go out to train and dont wear the watch that stores all the data, it doesnt count. Or it doesnt count the same. Everything we are training we are uploading to a platform to which the coach has access. Everything that is not saved and is not made with measurement is less credible.

P. He studied finance. What attracts you and where do you get the time?

R. I finished Business and now I have also finished a master in financial markets. I started studying road engineering, what happens is that I didnt have time to do both. In the year I had to make the decision, I won the junior world championship and the balance leaned a little more towards the sport and to take advantage of that talent that I had because I could always return to the studio. But it has always been good for me and it has given me peace of mind to continue studying and training. Now I can live from sports, but it is very ephemeral and unpleasant at times.

P. What is ungrateful?

R. Injuries and then that no matter how well you are training does not mean that you are going to compete well. On the other hand, the level of demand to which you submit the body often involves discomfort and injuries that can cut you off for an entire season.

P. It is striking that an athlete says that what gives him peace of mind is studying.

R. Yes. We train many hours and many others we have to dedicate to rest because if not, you cannot train. You can dedicate that break by wasting time or reading and training yourself in something that interests you. I read things about the economy, business, markets and that entertains me. Instead of wasting time on other things, I do this. It reassures me that not everything is sports, because that way I have a way out.

P. Does triathlon tire more mentally or physically?

R. Physically it is very, very hard, we are not going to deceive ourselves. Everyone would want to be in our place, but afterwards very few people are willing to do what needs to be done to be in our place. They are 24 hours, 365 days a year sport. I dont go out, I dont eat out, every day I go to sleep at 9.30 and I wake up every day at 8. I dont go to shopping malls. I train, eat and rest and that is what I do all year. I stop one week a year. I miss the family, doing things as a family, but we have also all finally understood that this is the only way to be performing at this level. I enjoy this, having a schedule, a planning and I live with it and I know that it is not forever. So: now it is at its peak because in ten years it is impossible that I am doing this.

P. The greatest whim that has been granted in the last three years?

R. For my performance traveling in business. It was something that I never thought about before. He said to me: what sense does it make if Im going to arrive at the same place and at the same time, why should I pay for it. But when you are going to compete and wear so much from traveling, if you can get there having your legs stretched out instead of having been cross-legged for ten hours, so much the better. Beyond that equal spending on technology. If I can choose: I prefer a good laptop than a normal one; phone, if I can buy the last one, I buy it. Im also not very capricious.

P. What triathlete was he when he got to the Blume [2011] and what triathlete is he now?

R. I came as a boy who has a facility to play sports and eager to learn, with everything to do and to demonstrate and over the years I have become more professional, becoming increasingly aware of what this costs. Today I have much more experience than at that time, but I try that many other things do not change because otherwise it would be a bad sign.

P. What things?

R. Having the same illusion, the same desire to do things; Despite the results I have achieved, I dont think that makes me better than anyone or better than I was. I think this is the only way to keep doing things to the best of my ability and ability.

P. Where do you find the motivations after three consecutive World Cups?

R. There comes a time when it is not so much because of the result itself, I have the opportunity to do what I like, I have had relative ease for it or I have worked hard. Now it is a matter of trying not to miss any opportunity to demonstrate that I am working to be the best I can be. It is no longer three, five, I am no longer moved by the numbers but rather to show myself that what I am doing, I do the best I can. On the other hand, unfortunately we had the experience that Carol, my girl, had the accident. When you are aware of these things or when they happen to you, you realize that we complain about things that we should not complain about and that we must take advantage of when we are well because an accident can knock you out.

P. Do you push too hard?

R. No; on the contrary, I like that people expect a lot from me because it is a sign that you demonstrate that you can do well. I try that any external pressure serves to push me forward and not to weigh me down.

P. Carolina said that she is her psychologist and that she comes to you every time she has a downturn. What advice do you give?

R. In the end you go to your environment, family, coaches, the people who are there all year, when things are not going as you would like. I do that too. I insist, I think that many times we give things more importance than it has. I always try to relativize her a lot, I tell her that having a bad career is normal and that it makes you value the good ones; that having discomfort from time to time is normal, so is being tired. The advice comes from a premise: having bad moments makes you value the good ones. It is part of the game and what we do is still a game.

P. When and how did you find out that Gomez Noya parked the Ironman to return to the Olympic distance?

R. I have a very good relationship with Javi, we keep in touch. I was not surprised. He did not tell me directly, but he knew, expected, and wanted. Javi tried the long distance because it seems that the normal evolution of the triathlete and in a few years of impasse that he had after the Rio Games to which unfortunately he could not go due to injury, it seemed that it was like the natural thing. But I think what he really likes is this, the Olympic distance, competing with someone, getting kicked out, recovering something that long distance tests dont have. They have many other things but not that. I was expecting it and Im glad to have you back.

P. They say that his is a double challenge because he returns to the Olympic distance at 36 years old and with much younger and stronger rivals.

R. It is the law of life four years ago in Rio I was young and now I am no longer one of the young. In the training group when I started I was the apprentice and now I am the one setting the example. Javi does not have to prove anything to anyone.

P. In the Rio Games he did his best swimming stretch and even then it did not help him to get a medal. What did you learn from those Games that you think can go well for Tokyo?

R. I have learned that I cannot obsess over the Games. I knew it was one more race and so I should take it. But I was aware that, despite being in my best shape and having done everything possible to reach a hundred percent and be in a position to fight for the medals, sometimes there are things that escape one and That is not why you should be disappointed. I did everything I could, but in the race there are circumstances and factors that you cannot control. I did the best swimming I had ever done, but if those in front come out fresher and understand each other better to some extent one can worry.

P. Are you managing not to obsess over Tokyo?

R. Yes. I only talk about it when asked by the media. I dont think there is anything special to do, but to arrive in the best possible way and then the race will put you in your place.

P. What is it like to train with Joel Filliol and why is he the best?

R. What I liked from the beginning is the simplicity of everything. In triathlon it seems that you have to look for different or very strange things to continue improving and I think that many times we forget to do the basics well. With him we pay a lot of attention to the basic and important things and if there is time and strength to do something else that we think can help us, well, go ahead, but mainly we dedicate ourselves to swimming, cycling and running. I have a good feeling with him. I dont know if he is the best or not, but he has created around him a group of very competitive athletes with a very good work environment. He has managed to train and train well at a very high level is not a stress for any of us; on the contrary we really enjoyed it.

P. Says peak shape is overrated

R. Yes, in line with the reasoning I have given you before, of not wanting to complicate things for us and of not doing special things that do not make sense. If throughout the year I am able to perform at a good level for six or seven months, so that we are going to go crazy doing what to get to a date well if we have no guarantees that this will be the case.

P. Does it motivate you or is it a sport in which the motivation comes from the athlete himself?

R. It comes from us. There are times when the coach needs to motivate you, of course, times when you are not well. It is very important to have someone capable of getting you out of that rut, but you have to do this because you like it. If they are pushing you too much, they are cheating you and it is better that you dedicate yourself to something else, so that you are going to be if not going crazy with something that you really do not like. You do this out of passion and to enjoy it.

P. Dont spend much on social media. Dont like it or dont have time?

R. It is a good combination of both I am aware of this is part of the job. Of private and personal life I do not like to talk or boast, but I do think that sometimes there are things that are not interesting, but of course they are not for me, I am used to them. But people do get their attention and Im trying to give them a little visibility. I know that people like to see what we do.

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Mario Mola: I rest studying; is what gives me peace of mind | sports - Explica