Whoa and Races

I woke up this morning to a temperature of -10.

As, like here is zero *holds hand level with face* and here we are, ten degrees below that *holds hand around waist.*

The wind chill is -30.

We live in an old apartment building (old ones which are pretty much all there is here in E-town) and we have radiator heat, which usually doubles as our own pesonal sauna.

But not this morning.

The depth of the cold is permeating the windows and walls.

I am sitting here in wrapped in a fleece blanket and contemplating what sort of sweet, sweet love I will have to talk to my car to get her to start this morning.

And for as bitter it is outside, I always get this really weird morbid curiosity/pleasure when we set these cold record lows.

I mean, maybe people in North Dakota or you Canadian folk have seen worse, but a temp of -10 is like, really cool to me.

Makes me feel like I am in the scene from Day After Tomorrow, where they are sitting in the freezing library in New York.

On a completely seperate note, I started planning the race season last night. I have to be honest, I have no real goal for this season. I really just want to have fun, stay pretty local (I have to be all fiscally-responsible like, what with this wedding and all) and use races as ways to meet up and see people. I don't want to have to committ to too many things that are really big because I know I just won't really have time or funds.

Right now I am signed up for Steelhead 70.3, and I am eyeing the Pleasent Praire Olympic distance in August and maybe Danskin in WI for a little speed racing. I have three 1/2 marathons in March, April and May. A friend, Mark, mentioned TriShark in Illinois, but the dates might not work (but checking it out).

What are you all doing? Anything in the Indiana/Michigan/Illinois/Wisconsin area? Triathlon or running?