Hi 57UniRider,
I will give you some free advice that will be worth every penny you pay for it. 
I found free mounting to be very challenging early on, but later it came more easily. If you are a better rider and can recover from overbalanced positions, then you can ride out of a lot of feeble mounting attempts. My advice is to do some drills to get to be a better rider, and them come back to free mounting in a week or two. I have found riding in circles (both directions!) and then moving on to figure eights to be very helpful in improving my skills as a beginner. They force you to develop control, and they teach you how to ride from an out-of-balance position. Initially the circles are very big, and gradually they get to be small. I still cannot do pirouettes after a few years of riding, and to be honest I am not even sure how to begin, but I can ride figure eights with about 1 M circles.
If you become a more skilled rider, then the distance will be easy and the mounts will come faster. You are in the “my legs are killing me” phase, but it passes quickly. If you look back about two years ago, you can find a post from me about the same issue. Put your weight on the seat. No, I mean REALLY put your weight on the seat and float your feet on the pedals with the absolute minimum pressure needed to keep control and you will find riding will take much less effort. (At least after you spin out of control and crash a few times. You might wear pads for the next few weeks.)
I have even designed a drill for you! Put an egg on each pedal. Now hold onto a fence and very gently mount the Unicycle with one foot on each egg. Ok, all set? Now ride off without breaking either egg. Fun! (I have never tried this exercise, I made it up in the safety of my own living room.) If you are crazy enough to try it, please film it so you can share the results with us! With a good video it may become known as “Martha’s Egg Riding Challenge!” 
Even if you do not use a real egg, think about using light enough pressure to avoid breaking an egg that might be sitting on each pedal.
Have fun and good luck!
Scott