The only path up the mountain is through hard work. And you can never truly rest.

Days ahead of his Texas sendoff for the Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, David Hughes said that was a central lesson his mother, Wiscasset teacher and Edgecomb resident Irene Marchenay, taught him, by example, while he was growing up.

He credits it with helping him get to the Olympic level. “I wouldn’t be who I am without my mom. I know that’s something everyone says, but it’s absolutely true,” Hughes said in a phone interview Sunday night.

He has followed her work ethic, and continues to, as he makes a run at an Olympic medal. He plans to take part in the opening ceremonies and draw on the Olympic energy but not get distracted by it, he said. “Truth be told, I’m there to do a job. We are truly in to win an Olympic medal. It’s not a hope,” he added.

Hughes, 38, said he and his partner in competition, Stuart McNay, have earned medals in other events together about 20 times. “That gives us confidence ... I’m feeling very positive that my partner and I are in a good place, that we’re gelling.”

Besides Marchenay’s example and Hughes’ past Olympic experiences as an alternate and a coach, another aid to his medal pursuit is that he’s a competitor. “Sailing at the Olympic level is an extremely mental game and physical at the same time. It’s extremely physically demanding. The competition is second to none.” So is the commitment it requires, including putting family trips on hold, he said.

Hughes’ schedule of travel, training and competition has been so packed that the Miami, Florida, man and Yarmouth High School graduate hasn’t seen his mother in person in about a year and a half. 

“It’s an unfortunate reality,” he said about the loss of time with family. Marchenay will be at the sendoff party and recently told the Wiscasset Newspaper she is very excited to see her son.

Hughes said Sunday night, “I’m very much looking forward to it and to having a nice dinner with her.” He’d love to make a trip to Maine next fall, he said.

Speaking of dinner, it’s the Olympian’s lightest meal of the day. He has two breakfasts — usually with avocados in some form — snacks between meals, and goes by the adage to have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

That’s a good rule for weight maintenance, he said, but added that with his current level of activity, “It is as though I can’t eat enough.”