Where are you spring?

It's been a long few weeks here in MN. It has been bitterly cold. I mean bitterly. So cold that you can feel the cold air still radiating off a person's jacket ten minutes after they've hung it up. So cold that my mind is thinking that my body needs to go in hibernation mode. So the carbs have been consumed this week! It seems like winter this year seems a lot colder and a lot longer. I was in North Dakota two weeks ago and it was -22 most of the time. -22! I stepped outside at my grandma's farm to see what -22 felt like as I don't think I've ever been outside when that is the temperature. Let me tell you, you can't feel much difference between -10 and -22. It's freezing cold no matter how you look at it! Course, it felt like a tropical heat wave at Grandma's resort, a sweat-drenching 74 degrees to be exact (my grandma is cold all the time). I kind of felt like I was on a tropical island. All I needed was a big drink and my shades, the sweat was already happening. I wondered what would happen to the cattle and horses? What do they do when it gets this cold to stay warm? My answer: not much. They didn't even huddle together which surprised me? Nor did they go in the barn. Course, neither did her dogs. They didn't go in the doghouse or in the barn! Makes me wonder what I'd do to stay warm? Every time I ran to the car for anything, I wanted to cry (I know, insert the word baby here). Needless to say, the training has been minimal. BUT, I have made it three times a week. I'm just worried as I'm doing the Tri-U-Mah in two weeks and I'm not even close to being ready. Oh well. Chalk it up to experience right? For those of you that did the Winter Carnival half marathon - CONGRATS! I'm off to hop on my trainer. Stay warm!

Decision

Thank you to everyone who gave me some advice on what to get. I am pretty sure I'm going to get a wetsuit and maybe some shoes as my toes keep falling asleep and after an hour one the bike, it's terrible. I went and talked to someone at Gear West which is in my humble opinion, one of the best shops around here. The guy I talked to said for me, it would be better to go with a wetsuit vs. aerobars. So, I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to do. He said as far as aerobars with road bikes, it really depends on the bike and how the person is fit on that bike as to if it will help much. The distance also makes a big difference. If I was going to do a full ironman, I may consider aerobars more seriously, but for now, I'm going to hold off. It is interesting how much more information some bike shops know and how much others claim to know (or how much one store in particular claims to know). I won't say the name of the well-known shop but will say, they do A LOT of advertising on the radio/tv. Well, to put it frankly, I've come to the conclusion the more research I do, that bike shop sucks and I'm really disappointed in them. But, I guess it does go to show you need to do your homework.
I've been busy trying to also figure out my schedule for this spring/summer/fall. Here is what I have so far:
2/08 Tri U Mah
4/08 Get in Gear?? Maybe on this one...
5/08 Fargo Half Marathon
6/08 Buffalo Tri, Grandma's Half
7/08 Maybe graniteman or timberman tri
8/08 Pigman Half Iron
9/08 Iron Girl Du???
10/08 Maybe Nike Women's Half in CA (this one depends on my $$ at the time and if I can fly out to CA)

So I'm getting excited for 2008!