Almost ready!

I haven't posted anything for a while. Mainly because I didn't think anyone would be all that interested in a "blow by blow" on my training.
Here's a summary:
Things have gone pretty well. I've been pretty diligent about 6 workouts a week (2 swim, 2 bike, 2 run). Some of the changes in my body have been pretty encouraging: my aches and pains are diminished, lower back pain is rare (and it was a constant before I started this program), and my weight is down nicely. When I started I was hovering in the 190-195lb range, which is fairly reasonable for my height (6'2"). Today, I am right at 171. Nice.
The actual workouts are pretty wimpy by "Ironman" standards, but that's not my goal -

• At the outset, a "long" run was 4 miles and my normal was around 3. Now, my normal runs are between 5 and 8 miles, depending on how much time I have and what I did the day before.
  
• My first swim workouts were around 20-25 laps (1,000 to 1,250 meters). Now the workouts are more constrained by the time available and are usually 40-45 laps. That includes a fairly long extended swim, some intervals (sprints), and some drills ("catch up", sighting, etc.)
  
• My first rides on the new bike were 10 miles at a pretty low average speed. Last week I had two 30 mile rides on our hilly roads at a much improved average speed.
  

That's all good because my first event - the Black Bear Triathlon - is just two weeks away. I'm starting to get excited. I've heard that this event is tough because it is very hilly and most events are relatively flat. So, I'm glad I've been training on similar terrain. I'm trying to treat the event as just a tough workout day (it is a sprint distance triathlon), so I won't be "tapering" for the event. However, I am going with Brad II to see my Dad down in Texas next weekend and so I will probably miss a couple of "long" workouts that I usually do on weekends. That should leave me pretty rested for the event.
Even though I know that I should be primarily focused on just finishing rather than on where I finish, it is hard to not think about trying to do well - at least in my age group. I think middle of the pack would be a pretty decent goal.
Watch this space for results!