I had a trek 7000 until recently, rode it quite a bit and recently upgraded. I'd say put a saddle or handlebars on it if comfort is an issue as you can reuse those, a non-suspension seat post and decent tires too. As far as making it faster, there's not much that you can do as the bike itself is pretty heavy with an odd geometry. I'd second the recommendation of looking at a cross or touring bike. Something you can put wideish tires on if you have crummy roads.