Rob Mohr

Unfinished Business

By InnerVoice

November 18^th, 2016

I’m a big fan of Stoicism

I don’t like to dwell on things that seem bad in the moment. Instead, I try to figure out what I can do to make things better. I’m a big fan of Stoicism, which is based on the idea that we can’t control what happens to us but can control how we respond to what happens to us. So when things get really tough or seem to be “bad” I try to remind myself that I can learn from it and come out the other side better as a result of it.

I think this mindset was instilled in me at a pretty young age, stemming back to when I moved from Dallas, Texas to Boston, Massachusetts when I was 12. Moving from Texas to Massachusetts was a total culture shock. I hated it. It was tough, and for well over a year I didn’t have many friends, didn’t really fit in, and was generally pretty down. When you’re a kid in that situation, you don’t really have much else to do but just keep going to school, trying to make friends and make things work out. If you’re older, you can just move back! After a year or so, I made some really great friends and started to love the town we moved to. Looking back, I think this was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. It was definitely an incredible learning experience. Among other things, it made an impression on me that great things can come from something that seems really shitty in the moment.

Shadow artist

I wanted to be a professional athlete for as far back as I can remember. I wanted to play in the NFL. I grew up in Dallas and was totally obsessed with the Dallas Cowboys. I played touch football with friends in the mornings before school, at recess and after school. Football was my true obsession, and I was really good at it.

As I got older, my obsession with playing professional football started to fade. I continued to play through high school (along with wrestling and lacrosse), but I focused more on studies and pivoted towards wanting to be a sports agent. I’ve come to learn that wanting to be a sports agent was, as author Julia Cameron describes, a “shadow artist” desire in that it would have put me close to what I wanted to be, but was afraid to actually pursue.

I worked for a sports agent while in college and also spent some time at professional teams (Tennessee Titans & LA Dodgers), but I realized that being around the athletes wasn’t the same as being the athletes. I again pivoted, and after college, I moved to NYC and put my communications degree to work at a top PR agency.

While I’m a far cry from a professional triathlete with regard to ability – I’ve started to make a career from my involvement in the sport. I’ve done this by taking my PR skills and helping brands and individuals in the health and wellness space. It’s basically allowed me to pretend like I’m a pro while still earning an income.

i sucked at triathlon

I got into running after moving to New York City to start working in PR. I was working long hours, going out hard at night and on weekends, and I could tell that my health – both physical and mental – was taking a back seat. I had always been a bit of a workout junkie, so didn’t like where things were heading. That said, after years and years of lifting weights to stay fit, I didn’t have the motivation to get to the gym to throw around weights anymore. I needed something new and signed up for an 8-mile Turkey Trot (per my dad’s recommendation) and I started running. Having never run more than a couple of miles at once, I was pretty terrible. I was also super bulky from years of squats and bench press – I was 5’8”, 175 pounds.

When I signed up for the Turkey Trot, I had set a goal of running at a 7min/mile pace (a lofty goal since I could barely string together 2 miles at this pace when I signed up). The goal kept me focused and motivated. Every day I felt like I was working towards it, getting closer to making it happen. I was in control. It was awesome, and I was totally hooked.

After running the Turkey Trot—and hitting my 7min/mile goal—I signed up for a half marathon, then a marathon. I ran a half marathon and three full marathons in 2010, then started to focus on triathlon. Doing the 3 different disciplines made the training a lot more interesting. I also SUCKED at it, which made me want to get better. Given how quickly my running had come along, I figured I could get pretty good if I worked hard enough. While the improvements across swimming and biking came slowly, the gradual improvements kept me wanting to work harder and get faster. With a sport like triathlon, it was clear that hard work would lead to improvement. This “you get out what you put in” nature of the sport definitely attracted me. I really liked that linear nature of things, especially since that isn’t necessarily true in the workplace. You can work your ass off on something and things aren’t necessarily going to pan out.

Near the end of 2014, I decided I wanted to really commit to getting faster and set qualifying for Kona as the goal. A year after setting the goal of qualifying for Kona, I did so at Ironman Cozumel. Now having raced in Kona this past October, I still plan to have triathlon a focus of what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis. I love the sport way too much to walk away.

i'm willing to do the work

Two books had huge impacts on me. The first was 'Born to Run'. This came out right around the time when I signed up for that first 8-mile race. I was inspired and blown away by it – it really resonated with me and encouraged me to run further than I thought possible. The second was Rich Roll’s Finding Ultra. Rich’s own experience – struggling through alcoholism, an unhealthy diet and being an overworked lawyer to transforming himself to a super fit, health-focused “lifestyle entrepreneur” – inspired me to focus on my health and has since led me to pursue a career around health and wellness. (He, along with my girlfriend Marla, also inspired me to clean up my diet, and ultimately go vegan.)

My coach, and pro triathlete, Justin Daerr has been a huge influence as well. I was a VERY average triathlete just two years ago. I had the drive to get better, but at the time didn’t know how to get where I wanted to go. Justin has not only coached me to be faster, but has helped me believe that I can go as fast as anyone so long as I’m willing to do the work. His commitment to my goals has allowed me to believe that the goals are possible – even when they would seem crazy to anyone else. He’s even let me live with him and his wife in Boulder for several weeks over the course of two summers to train.

I’m really tight with my coach, the people I train with, and the teammates I have through Team Every Man Jack. I can’t imagine getting out of the sport since it would mean hanging with these people a lot less!

it's easy to give up and slow down

I’m a pretty positive dude. That said, as much as I’d like to say that I’m only thinking positively when things get rough in a race, I face fear of failing and self-doubt just as much as anyone. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at managing those fears and doubts though. When I’m hurting I go inward and try to embrace it as the part of the race where I get to see the benefit of my training. I think this comes from knowing with total confidence that I’ve done the work in training to be ready for those difficult moments.

In triathlon, particularly in an Ironman, it’s easy to give in to the suffering and simply slow down. When I get the urge to back off my pace and give in, I remind myself how much I’ve put into having a strong race and how much it means to me to perform to my ability. I also remind myself of the sacrifices that others have made to allow for me to out there racing in top form/really fit. I have to honor that commitment/ those scarifies of others (namely my girlfriend) by racing to the best of my ability.

incredible

There is a rush you get from racing and even training. When you toe the line – facing all your fears of failing – and put all your hard work to good use by executing a killer race, there’s nothing better. Really drilling a brutal training day is pretty awesome as well. With both racing and training, when you do them well, it provides a new sense of self-worth and new respect. You go into many training sessions and races with some self-doubt. Thinking you can’t do something. And then, you prove yourself wrong and see what you’re really capable of doing. It’s pretty incredible.

“I can eat a TON when training and stay fit. No joke. I might be vegan, but I still love to eat. It’s probably one of the reasons that I am vegan. Keeps me from going too far off the rails!”

my parents inspire me

Both my parents really inspire me. My dad has incredible work ethic and drive that’s brought him a lot of success in the business world. There’s nothing that I can’t see him being really good at if he put his mind to it. That inspires me to try to be world class at everything I commit to doing. I’m also really inspired by my mom, who has an incredible passion for life and love for getting to know people and the world around her. My friends and I joke that she’s having more fun than any of us pretty much every day of the year.

I’m also inspired by tennis. Have you read Agassi’s Open? Holy shit. Tennis is insane. It requires such immense dedication to both technique and fitness. And that doesn’t even include the hardest part – the mental game. They’re out there on their own, unable to talk with their coach or anyone, on their own island battling their thoughts. To win at the highest levels requires not only perfect technique/skill and physical fitness, but also Jedi mental game.

unfinished business

I’ve learned that I can do a lot when I commit myself fully to it. And I think this is true for anyone. If you really want something, you have the ability to make it happen – it just requires total commitment, lots of hard work, and an unwillingness to stop regardless of what might stand in the way.

I’ve also learned that I can perform well under pressure. In fact, I think I preform best when under pressure – both internal and external. It helps me focus and keeps me motivated. When I was younger, this wasn’t the case. I recall times in high school when I crumbled under pressure, at times both in athletics and in academic situations. In college and in the work place, I started to embrace the pressure and use it to focus and push myself to new levels. Now, I think I’m using triathlon as a way to prove to myself that I can also perform well under pressure athletically. A bit of unfinished business I guess.