Delta Sprint Duck Race

Well, it started raining in Vancouver when we arrived on Friday night and when we woke up for the race it had not stopped. The forecast was for more rain, wind and cold............not exactly encouraging conditions for a triathlon but great weather if you are a duck.
My race plan was fairly simple, a sprint tri only lasts about an hour, so it was to hammer as hard as possible for as long as possible............besides, I forgot to bring my HR monitor so it was going to be down to RR and feel.
Delta starts with a 700M pool swim, you estimate your time and then they line you up to start in order. 9 swimmers for each double lane, when one finishes the next jumps in. It is a bit like a TT start in that way. There are lap counters assigned to track three swimmers each so hopefully they count accurately and you don't have to swim extra laps (or get shorted a lap).
After a long wait off I went. I have done this race several times before and usually swim in the range of 10.30-10.45. Having not really focused much on swimming I had sandbagged a bit by estimating 11.00. I was also trying out a new technique as a result of a swim clinic I did about 6 weeks ago so was unsure how long my form would hold.
So, got in and felt like I was flying! Swimming at about 90% and pushing up to 100% when I had to pass or accelerate away from the pack that my lane had formed into. My rugby background usually comes in handy for these close quarter encounters and there was quite a bit of incidental contact at the turns. The swim seemed to be over in no time and I was pleased that I felt my technique had stayed solid for the whole distance and my breathing never got out of control. Then it was out the door into the cold.........
I decided to put on a jacket for the ride, which slowed my transition a bit, this was added to the bike time unfortunately. The road was quite wet in sections but the rain had stopped which was a bonus. Course was an "L" shape double out and back with a heavy cross wind on one leg and a headwind/tailwind on the longer leg of the 'L". Despite the wind and running a disc/deep front combination I felt pretty secure and put my head down to grind it out. At this point I was estimating effort by RR which was steady at the usual 30ish per minute and also trying to find the most efficient cadence to push into the wind. It is on the bike course you get the down side of this type of start to any triathlon. The course was littered with slower riders who were all over the road. They were a bit of a pain in the ass. On the first return leg I over cooked the only significant corner on the whole course and had a little excursion into the cones.....fortunately did not hit the deck.
It was hard to find the right cadence into the wind and the tailwind was so strong on the return leg I had to constantly remind myself to keep the effort level up. I kept an eye on the faster guys who had started behind me at the turn arounds and the gaps seemed to be holding pretty steady. The bike was a little frustrating as i felt that my effort level was a little inconsistent and perhaps could have pushed a little harder.
Transition to the run went smoothly, again slowed a little by jacket removal. Out on the run my focus was on quick feet and running down anyone I could see! The first K was a battle as my body adapted to running from cycling and was straight into the wind. Still I was picking up runners and my breathing settled into a regular pattern. The next K was sheltered from the wind and felt slightly downhill and at this point I really felt good and tried to accelerate my turnover. Despite this I was caught and passed for the first time in the race. (It was a guy I passed in the last 400M of the bike). I tried to accelerate a bit to stay with him but started to feel some tightness in my calves so thought I should dial it down slightly to avoid a full on cramp.
The rest of the run is a twisty path through a sub-division so we were sheltered from the wind. The last K I was able to accelerate again and pushed in hard to the line. Then comes the wait for your times and the placings.
So here they are:
6 6/160 M 1/22 M45-49 69 Martin Courtenay Kelowna BC 3 9:52 1:25 5 31:17 38.4 17 19:38 3:56 6 1:00:45
Sixth overall, first in my AG, third fastest swim overall, fifth fastest bike, seventeenth fastest run...........hmm, wonder where I should concentrate for improvement........... bit of a bummer to miss breaking the hour mark by only 45 seconds. The bike and run times include respective transition time.
Two years ago, my bike time on a still day was two minutes faster, but given the conditions I was pretty happy with that, it was a record swim for me at that distance (I hope the lap counters got it right!), the run was 8 seconds slower than my best at that race.
The guys who beat me were two professionals, Jasper Blake who has won IM Canada, and Mike Neil who has qualifiied for Hawaii as a pro numerous times and then the top three from the 25-29 AG. I figure my jacket cost me the difference between sixth and fourth......10 secs.