What I am concerned about training outdoors is the water and air temps. The river I trained for my first tri in, the temps are low 60s and should be falling in to the upper 50s soon. I would only be able to swim there on the weekends and the occasional evening when I get off work early. Would getting a wetsuit be suitable enough to train with in those temps? What else do I need to be concerned with training in the winter time?

As far as gyms, the nearest one is a 40 minute drive one way and their hours are basically my work hours. I got a 10 visit pass last year and I have not used any of the visits yet. There are not a lot of options for training around where I live. I just want to be in better shape than last years tri. It was a 800m swim and it took me 32 minutes to complete it.