Killed it with the NBW women

Rarely during this training have I felt confident or ready for race day, today is very different.  I'm ready and for once feel like I've done all that I can and I will finish the race.  Last week I decided to put on my big girl pants and have the clip-less pedals put back on my phat whip.  I needed to get over myself, it's foolish to think about getting though this course without the pedals.  The anxiety was totally there this morning, I couldn't find my helmet for a few moments and almost had a party at the thought of having to skip my ride.  Too bad it wasn't really lost and I couldn't come up with another acceptable excuse.  I rolled up to the elementary school, unsure of what the ride would be like and quickly found myself among 40-50 other women cyclists of varying ability and experience.  We headed off in no time, I was somewhat familiar with the route as I have followed their markers on my own quite a bit.  Unsure of where I would fit, I positioned myself near the rear of the pack.  It didn't take long for me to realize that it was time to start passing people.  I'm a nervous chicken shit and ride my brakes on the downhills but was kicking some ass on every one of those never ending hills.  It became comical and people would joke as I'd move right pass them up the hills.  Seems as though those twice weekly hill workouts on the trainer are paying off. SO the part of the race I've been dreading the most, the hills on the bike, are turning out to be a secret strength.  I'm too cautious and slow on turns and down hills but for now that's ok.  Every single person who would power by me on the downhills I would catch rather easily on the straight away and then pass on the next uphill.  And as the miles ticked by I started to loose some of them.  The excitement about this discovery distracted me from the pedals, although I was too nervous to fiddle with my water or gu while moving.  Part of that I think was due to the increased speed.  It was fine today, but will lead to a DNF on race day.  The NBW women's group was a great addition to my training, I'd totally join them again and encourage other's to check them out.  It was very nice to ride with a group and not have to worry about where I was going or if I was lost.  The goal had been to get in another 55+ ride but my phat whip is in need of some service....I think the rear derailer is hitting the spokes or something on the wheel (kind of badass that I know what a derailer is and can use in in a sentence).  Also my brakes sound pretty terrible, hopefully an easy fix at the bike shop tomorrow.

I will add that to make up for the missed miles I headed to the pool this afternoon, only to find that someone had pooped in the pool.  Yep, pooped in the pool.  I'll let that clear til Monday and try not to think about it.

Miles trained today: 35