A couple weekends ago Laura and I swam the Capitol 2K, as we did last year. And just like last year, I got third place in my division. But it was a very different race this year—not just because it was my second time instead of my first, or because I have better goggles and could actually see what was going on around me. Here's some interesting (okay, interesting to me..) comparisons in the results:

• The divisions were split in half: last year, I was 30-39, this year 30-34. There were 14 swimmers in mens' 30-39 last year; 11 in the 30-34 group this year.
• Overall, there were fewer swimmers. Attendance was down about 10%.
• Also, not many returns from last year. Of the names I looked up, only about a quarter of the swimmers this year did the race last year.
• Those that did, however, swam about 2 minutes faster than last year. (The weather was much better, for one..)
• I was only around 30 seconds faster.
• Last year there was a gap of a few minutes between the guy ahead of me in my division and over a minute behind me. This year, second was 16 seconds ahead and fourth was 13 seconds behind.

I think this will motivate me to get in better shape for next year, and to remember to keep pushing harder. Just a little bit faster and I can get second place. Just a little bit slower and I don't get another cool little plaque to put on my desk.