My second shot at 70.3

Welp.

Yep, I did it again. I signed up for my second 70.3-distance race: Michigan Titanium, in Grand Rapids this August.

I was holding out until I was sure I was making progress on the bike. My swim is pretty steadily mediocre, my running is going a bit faster than this time last year -- which I attribute to running about twice as much as I was this time last year -- but my biking is kind of a wild card. I came pretty much from nothing on a steel bike, and while I've improved a little, I'm still comparatively slow and afraid to get into aero.

But, this past weekend's ride went great, all things considered. My mph average was higher than anything I'd ridden last year on that route, and that was enough to convince me to pull the trigger again. That and the price increase at midnight. =)

I don't really follow an "official" plan except to schedule long runs and rides, but here are my loose goals:

I'm currently swimming 2-3 times per week, but I want to bump that up to 3-4 times per week, with at least one swim in a lake. I'd really like to get in the pool one additional time per week. Sunday evenings may be my best shot, but I haven't been able to swing it yet.

I'm biking 4 times per week, once on the road, with last week up to 45 miles. My trainer rides are an hour long two mornings per week before work, and although I'd love to add a few minutes here and there, I absolutely refuse to get up before 4:30 a.m. unless the house is on fire. So, an hour it will have to be. I'd like to make my Monday evening recovery ride a road ride, but I can't quite make the logistics work between my commute, making dinner, and prepping for my long Tuesdays (swim-work-run). In the meantime, I plan on building my long weekend rides into the 50s next month with a few 60-milers in the weeks before the big race.

And honestly, I'm not worried about my run. (Knock wood.) I ran 10-milers on the treadmill almost every weekend through winter and have run 12-13 on the road almost every weekend since the weather broke. My long-run paces have been pretty consistently 30 seconds per mile faster than last year's long runs. My plan is to keep doing what I'm doing and try to dial in the speed: 4-5 runs per week with 1-2 easy, 1 medium/moderate, 1 speed and 1 long with a fast finish, hopefully.

So. My plan for the next two months is to swim, bike and run. Not too complicated, right?