Leonor Font "triathlete 360º" looks for consolidation in 2016

Leonor Font Balduque, has 30 years, resides in Cabrils (Barcelona) and belongs to the Mataró Swimming Club. He is Lic. In Publicity and Public Relations, at present he is dedicated to the world of Marketing.

 

Precisely, from the world of marketing we have obtained the term "triathlete 360º", to refer to a complete athlete, not only at the competition level (since it is present in all kinds of tests and distances), but also we refer to their professional training and day to day work.

You have little time in triathlon, but before practicing what sport did you do? How were your beginnings in triathlon?

Indeed, this will be my third season in the world of triathlon. I used to practice climbing. One day rehearsing a track I had an accident and I broke several bones of the right foot. The prognosis was bad enough, they even advised me to forget about climbing and practicing sports that implied impact. For a person who does not conceive his life without the sport was a very hard blow, but I had to change the chip.

I focused on recovering, I did gym sessions that combined with water sessions until one day a former teammate of mine found me in the locker room and told me that if I wanted to do triathlon, that they needed girls in their team .... and that's how it all began. I recovered my foot, and began to take my first steps in this world.

What is your favorite segment? Could you tell us how is your week combining studies and / or work and training?

I do not have any preferred ones, the truth is that when I do them separately, sometimes I get lazy. hehe I think the "magic" of triathlon is the ability to bring together several disciplines. The emotion and what really makes your hair stand on end is to be able to get your maximum in each segment and then reach another and have to give your 100% again. 

I combine workouts with my work. I usually train between 21 and 25 hours a week. I'm lucky that many of the training sessions I can do with the team because we have sessions both at noon and in the afternoon. And then in the mornings I usually ride a bicycle sometimes with a small group of people that we have assembled and others alone.

Little by little you have been growing until this year where you were top8 in the Ctos. of Spain Elite of MD and LD. What are your most outstanding results and the careers that you feel most proud of?

I think I could tell you an anecdote or memory of each of the competitions I've been to. Each of them has something special. Outstanding results are how you say an 6º placed in the Spanish Long Distance Championship, an 8º in the Spanish MD Championship or an 1er placed in the Half of Narbonne ...

But I am proud of each of the tests that I go to, because many hours we dedicate to training, planning that peak of form, and dreaming of achieving our goals.

In the end, the competition does not cease to be the icing on the cake that you have been cooking for so many and many months.

Looking to 2016, what are your main sporting objectives?

Continue fighting for good results, especially in the middle distance that for the moment is the one I enjoy the most.

I plan to participate in the Spanish championships of Medium and Long Distance triathlon, the Half of Vitoria and Pálmaces. But first I'll have to go through the Spanish Long Distance duathlon championship in Orihuela, a test to which I have a lot of respect.

In this 2016 you want to take a leap and be a triathlon professional. How are you going to face the challenge?

Well this I think it would be a dream and ambitious. I think that unfortunately very few people can be professional in this sport because there are very few helps. So professional; How do I understand that he is the sportsman who makes his living with sports? I do not think he is already ...

But what I do want is to professionalize myself. And this involves improving several aspects of training (I can not point to all the plans that come out, there are days that I do the workouts that touch me and then I end up in the gym inside a spining or bodypump class or even Zumba!), nutrition, calendar planning ...

With what helps and sponsors accounts in this season?

I have the great fortune of having people by my side who help me a lot to achieve my goals. They are not just brands that I represent and I give my image in exchange for visibility and impact on social networks. For me behind each of them there is a friend who trusts me as an athlete and helps me fulfill my dreams.

Fita-A, They help me with the whole issue of injury prevention and physiotherapy. With them I have learned to listen to my body, because when we feel healthy inside we are stronger than ever.

Different Bikes He helps me with the bicycles. If something gives a lot of anger in a race is having technical problems in the cycling part so I'm always very calm. I know I'm in the best hands, not only because of the good mechanics they are but because they know what they do as cyclists that are and know the importance of bikes in a race or training.

226ERS He is by my side to "feed my dreams". Sports supplementation is a basic pillar to perform at the highest level. And thanks to its products made by triathletes and for triathletes I have assured energy during each training and competition.

Navigalium with the management of my new website www.leonorfont.com. Nowadays, having a digital image is very important because in this way we will reach people who are thousands of kilometers away from us to transmit our passion and our dreams.

Bunch Sports with the training and competition clothes. Sportswear does not have to be boring. With them I discovered technical clothes of a very high quality with a very novel image.

Coreevo with the compression garments. The compression in the clothes is often necessary since it will bring us that extra technicality that we need.

Norfolk with the care of my feet thanks to being experts in socks. One of my great allies in the walking race segment. I have discovered socks that are easy to put on, that perspire, and that do not produce blisters or chafing.

They are present in each of my trainings and competitions. They are part of me and without them all my goals would be harder to fulfill.

As a marketing professional, you know the importance of an athlete knowing how to communicate and get known in order to get more sponsors and collaborators. Could you give us some advice for triathletes who are struggling like you to grow professionally in triathlon?

We have the "bad luck" to practice a sport that seems to lack interest in the media. Today we open the sports press and only see news related to football, basketball, some tennis ... and little else.

Although at the level of the target audience I think it is a sport that is booming both professionally and amateur level. You only need to see the amount of races, triathlons, crossings, btt routes that there are every weekend and that most of them exhaust registrations.

So if the sports press does not help us we must be ourselves who give visibility to our passion, our sport. We have to transmit and show the world who we are, how we fight every day and our results.

We have to be able to offer our brands a win / win. And above all we will achieve this through good and correct visibility. You just have to know how to create it, manage it and make it reach thousands of people.

Well, and a triathlete like you, who has already run several medium distance triathlons and one of long ... Do you have the idea to debut in Ironman?

Yes I would like but "you can not get to everything".

I like to compete, and triathlon is not exactly cheap. There are many tests that I would like to go to and in the end I am left without a place because the registration is finished one year in advance. But how I have to aim for everything when the season is not over can be my ruin!

And the long distance tests are the cheapest. Not only for the price of registration, but also for everything that involves material, preparation, training ... and how not to be close to home ... better not to mention the displacement, hotels, meals ... is a big expense and perhaps the sign up for a test of these characteristics makes you stop pointing to many others that are also important and make you special illusion.

Thank you very much Leonor, the truth that it has been a pleasure to make this interview and that the readers of the web can know you better. We wish you the best in this 2016 and that you can fulfill all your objectives.

Thank you very much, it has been a pleasure. And do not forget to follow my adventures on my website www.leonorfont.com. ! For him 2016!

Photo: swim Ibiza / Pat perpinja