Neck pain and sprint tri

My neck started bothering me late Sunday night. I woke up feeling okay. I went to the lake for my first wetsuit swim of the year. My body was tired from the hardest/longest bike of the year. I realized I swim like a snake when I bilateral breath. I swam much straighter breathing every stroke. The neck pain increased over the next couple days. It was so bad on Wednesday that I had to visit JPT pharmacy. I felt better on Thursday. I signed up to race a sprint in issaquah a few weeks earlier. Orinially I had no intentions of racing. I changed my mind Friday night. On the drive up to issaquah I wasn't sure if it was going to rain. It did, but after almost most racers finished. I was glad my little brother picked up the race packets the day before because it made race morning a breeze. I set up all my stuff and waited for the race to begin. It was a short swim (Garmin 910XT had it ad 434meters). A few guys jumped out front at the start. I passed a couple of them after the first buoy. I couldn't tell how many people were in front of me. As I stand up to start running onto shore, I see a blue seventy wetsuit. I yelled, "No, you gotta be kidding me." It was Karen. She stood up at the same time I did. I stripped off my XTERRA VENDETTA, put on my helmet, and grabbed the LYNSKEY. Transition was not set up well. I had to run across other rows of bikes. As I tried to exit, two people were blocking me. The race just started sending the duathletes to begin their race. It was chaos. I finally get out and jump on the bike only to have my shoes flip upside down. I come to a complete stop. Luckily I didn't fall over. I get myself situated and start pedaling. There were lots of turns in the first couple miles. The course was an out and back with a few small rollers. I spun out on the downhills. I was riding with 2 other guys until they picked up the pace on the last hill on the way out. I watched them slowly pull away on the return trip. I quickly rack the bike and put on my NEWTON'S. I head out and hear footsteps behind me. Two guys pass me quickly and I had no response. The course was mostly on grass with uneven terrain and some damp spots. I ended up finishing 6th overall. They had bratwurst post race. They were delicious. I didn't feel great during the race or horrible either. The funny thing was I had no soreness post race. Maybe I didn't go hard enough. Maybe my neck was a factor. Maybe the killer weekend of training the previous week caught up to me. I am not sure. I have felt great the last 2 days. It will be a great race this weekend.