1st, 2nd, and 6th

I started the 10th annual Salmon Duathlon this morning after having read Krishna counsel Arjuna:

"Relinquishing the fruit of action,
the disciplined man attains perfect peace;
the undisciplined man is in bondage,
attached to the fruit of his desire."

I've been looking forward to this duathlon the past couple of months.  I have not competed much this year, and I wanted to test myself and with any luck grab a good result.  Any delusions I had of winning were quickly starved of oxygen on the first lap of the opening 5K run. 

Coming into the bike leg in somewhere around 10th or 12th place, the gap between perfect peace and bondage was virtually insurmountable.   30 kilometers later, I had pulled into 5th place, but more importantly, I felt like I had - in terms of pacing and the quality of my pedal stroke - one of the best time trials of my life.  I cannot wait to see what that translates to when I have some serious power. 

At the final transition into a 2.5K run, I was on the heels of the 4th place finisher.  Within 500 meters, I was a stone's throw away.  As we approached the big hill on the backside of course, I could barely see him.  Nor could I sense - in my oxygen starved delirium - the young kid about to overtake me.  In the final stretch I felt the chains of bondage wrap tightly around my lungs and squeeze out any will to push harder.

Later as I sat waiting at the awards ceremony, I pondered Krishna's words.  I knew I had finished 6th overall, but I did not know where I slotted in my age group.  I'm not sure why I wanted a medal.  I'd like to think I would not have been disappointed had I not won gold in the 19-29 category or gotten a medal at all.  [Technically, I was the 2nd 19-29 year old to finish, but the overall winner was also in my age group, so I was awarded with age group prize.]  I can say that I was pleased with my performance, and I intend to use this motivation to train for more fruit of action - perhaps with a little more discipline and less attachment.