10 "Ironmans" in the car this weekend

Friday: Swim 2,400 yards

Saturday: Run 6 miles

Sunday: Rest

This weekend was more driving than training with my son's climbing competition in Boise. We set the trip odometer, and I was startled to notice that it's almost exactly 140.6 miles from our house to the first Bozeman exit (or one unit of distance hereafter called the "Ironman"). That means one Ironman is … a really long stinking way. For example, Billings to Boise takes about 11 hours to drive with stops, goes through three major mountain passes, and covers the majority of two very large Western states. Guess how far it is? Less than five Ironmans. Wow. I always knew it was not a distance to sneeze at, but that really put it in some scary perspective.

Well. Not being inclined to sneeze at this training anyway, I put in the workouts I had planned. On Friday, my husband was insistent that we get on the road at 8 a.m. sharp, so I got up super stinking early to get my swim done. I decided to do my run on Saturday, but the hotel didn't have a treadmill, so I had to find a YMCA, get a one-day pass ($14!!), and run there. (I know running outdoors is free, but I hadn't brought any cold-weather running gear, and we didn't seem to be in the best part of town.)

It was kind of gratifying to go the extra mile (so to speak) to stay on my schedule. Plus it helped my cool-mom cred: My son got to explain away my lateness for lunch with the team by telling them about the Ironman. That was good because I had apparently already done the most embarrassing thing ever by pulling out a knitting project at the morning competition. Let me tell you, if this is what it takes to be a cool mom, then he's got about 20 weeks left to enjoy it, because this is a one-time deal.

P.S. The cool triathlete bloggers have contests. I really want the Garmin being given away by DCRainmaker.