Hi Connie It sounds like you had a fun time too.

For OWS, I go to Matthews Beach or Madison Beach. Madison is nicer; the swim distance is 150 yards vs. 75 yards at Matthews. The water at Madison seems cleaner too. Matthews is closer to the house so that's where I go when I don't have much time. If you have a wetsuit, I'm sure you can swim for a bit longer before it gets too cold.

For pool swimming, I go to LA Fitness.

I am not a cold weather cyclist so I'll probably go to some spin classes in the winter. Right now I'm training for a marathon so most of my post-Danskin time will be running. I swim once a week though.

It is always fun to train with people! Definitely think about next year or even this year, if it works out.

As far as keeping motivated goes, I keep signing up for things so then I need to train for them

I know I've mentioned it in this thread before but if you're looking for a nice early season Tri, the one at Five Mile Lake is a lot of fun and it's small. It's in June.

Congrats on your upcoming birthday! It sounds like you had a perfect celebration.