Webstock 2012

For those who don't know, Webstock is a web technology conference that is held every year in Wellington. However, it is not just any conference - it is an outstanding one. Its mere name might suggest a kind of hippy sense of grandeur, and to an extent it lives up to that reputation. Geeks of today and the hippys of Woodstock are a long, long way apart, but I guess both share a compelling and defining idealism.

And a lot of Webstock is about idealism: but it is an idealism that is achievable. In fact, most of the speakers are of the "been there, done that" kind, even if not all of them are worth over $250 million. US dollars, that is. Some of them while very definitely legends in their own time, are still relatively poor. And I stress relatively, of course.

Last week was my first Webstock. I attended two days of pre-conference workshops, and then the two days of conference proper. It was quite tiring for me, having three 5am starts that week, and if you know me, you know I am a bad sleeper but I manage to get by doing my sleeping after 3.30am. So 5am is not a good time for me. And it has left me somewhat depleted with an ironman-distance race just two weeks out. But I have to face the reality that my world cannot continue to revolve around ironman-distance races if I want to keep doing them. And I do. Then there is the fact of having of deal with being around 800 delegates, and even though I liked 799 of them it's still a lot of people in my introverted face over two days.

I learned a lot. But let me step back three weeks to the Kinloch qualifier. While I was there I had a sort of a realisation. You know the type of realisation that is a long time coming, so when it finally arrives, none of it is news to you, but finally you are able to articulate it. And once you can elegantly articulate something, even just in your head, then perhaps you are further down the road to understanding it.

So, here is the thing: I have been chasing two things somewhat relentlessly for a while now. And they are Performance and Happiness. Now I am quite OK with the happiness status, and where that is at. But I began to realise I was so focused on performance that I wasn't performing well. Allow me to explain. I was viewing performance (and I suppose I am talking about work, training and racing, specifically) on a day-to-day basis, but I totally let a little thing called Organisation slip out of the window. And it very suddenly dawned on me while I was trying to fix bike tyres by torch light in my tent near a noisy road in Taupo, that my performance the next day would more than likely be much better if I had spent less time training and working, and more time sorting my stuff out. Instead I should then be tucked up sleeping peacefully in comfortable accommodation the night before a race that carried a lot of my hopes and dreams. It all ended happily, but it may not have.

Fast forward to Webstock. My take home message from the conference is this:

What I do is a craft. And that craft requires careful and continued attention. I have to do what I do well, and worry less about how long it takes or where the money will come from. I will build great things. First and foremost. And I will look after me, so that I can build great things. I will do it because I love it and I want to make stuff that people want and find useful. And behind that is a whole bunch of technical stuff which I won't bore you with, but for me it is really important too.

As I note in my headline, this blog is about journeys whether they involve travelling or not. Webstock was always going to be a journey, somewhat more than I can ever write about.

Kinloch qualifier

I really, really wanted to qualify for the triathlon world age group champs to be held in Auckland in October this year. Several years ago I could only ever qualify for the duathlon champs, but I was never able to do so for the triathlon. Not because I can't swim, but because the qualifying level is higher in triathlon; simple supply and demand economics.

Last year I finally made into the tri team, and had a little adventure heading off to Beijing for the champs. But qualifying for that was always going to be easier than when the champs are here in New Zealand - again a matter of supply and demand. Two of the three qualifiers fell right in the middle of my ironman season. And the two don't go together at all well. No problem, I thought, the first qualifier set for November 2011 was to be my big chance with no ironman-distance races to weaken me.

However, the way the qualifying standards were set up meant that the first race would be the hardest to qualify in, and thereafter it would get easier. This was because once you had qualified you were then out of the reckoning for subsequent races. I chose the standard distance event in Auckland and while I was in relatively good shape, I didn't come close. About six of the ten spots went to ex-pros, but it wasn't even that - I didn't make the first 30, and was struggling to meet the time limit as well, as the the fastest 50+ year old in the world was setting the standard that day.

And so I was then left with sprint event at Kinloch, which fell two weeks after Wanaka, and the Wellington standard event which was one week after Taupo. Neither ideal, but clearly my best shot would be Kinloch, because of the extra week, and also because there is less demand for sprint slots. Now while I say I "really, really wanted" this, I wasn't desperate enough to can my ironman-distance season, particularly with the thought that I could do that and not make the team anyway. I definitely didn't want to miss Wanaka and give up my membership to the special group of 8 or so guys who have done all of the events there, and I'm pretty far up the finisher ladder in Taupo too although missing that race wouldn't have been such a big deal apart from the loss of the entry fee. I don't have much sentiment left for WTC events, unfortunately.

I had walked the last 21km at Wanaka, partly in an effort to save myself for Kinloch. Nevertheless I was left a bit worse for wear in the days that followed, spending 4 or 5 days on crutches and two weeks on antibiotics. I had an ankle the size of my calf. So I gave up almost all hope of even getting to the start line in Kinloch. Such thoughts were stupidity, it seemed. However by Thursday I was walking normally, except on the stairs, and by Friday my ankle looked almost normal and I wasn't wincing (or mincing) on the stairs. And on Saturday it looked, and felt, normal. So I decided to go for a 2km run to see how things felt. I didn't get more than about 1km, but that wasn't because my ankle bothered me, but rather the old knee injury which has troubled me for most of the last three years.

But I persuaded myself that the knee just needed some exercise and that it was playing up from doing absolutely nothing for the last two weeks. So, without much ado, I threw the bike, wetsuit and tent into the car and headed for Taupo. I got to the evening registration on time, racked my bike, except for the front flat wheel, and found a campsite. It was going to be a bad night as I was right next to the road. It was too late to find motel accommodation except at one motel that I had made the mistake of staying at twice. And spending $300 for the two nights when I was very unlikely to qualify seemed a waste of money.

So I pitched the tent (which is too big for one person to pitch or sleep in) and battled for well over an hour to fix my puncture by torch light. But that is another story. One bottle of "goo" later I had it sorted however, and it finally stayed up. I didn't get much sleep with all the traffic.

When I woke in the morning, I had to fix the puncture again, but I'm not talking about that. I finally got to the race, and almost to my surprise I had everything I needed.

Just after 10am my wave was off. I thought I swam really well, but found my time a bit on the slow side - I think the swim was slightly longer than usual, because I am swimming well of late. The bike was a bit of struggle, but I got through a few minutes slower than I would have liked. I battled on the first half of the run, but managed to pick up the pace on the second. I lost a couple of positions in my age group on the run and feared they would be critical.

There were ten qualifying slots up for grabs, but I knew that a few of the guys had already qualified. I figured I needed to finish 13th or 14th out of the 22 to have a reasonable shot. To my disgust I finished 16th, and about 30 seconds off 14th. I immediately regretted my decision to go camping.

So we had to hang around all day till the qualification process started - you had to be there to accept, and pay for, your slot or else it would roll down. It wasn't so bad as we got to watch the elites race, and Chris McDonald had come over from Oz to help his Olympic bid. He finished sixth in the end, but it was great to see him in action. I discovered he was born in New Zealand and is actually part Maori. Unfortunately I forgot my camera's memory card at home. Duh! But I had packed in rather a rush, and was more focused on what I needed for the race.

So finally the qualifying results went up, and there was my name, and not last on the list either. What a relief it is not to have to worry about it anymore. I really didn't want to have to leave it to Wellington, or have to make the decision to skip Taupo (although that wasn't very likely), and probably not make it in Wellington either.

So I did it. I am going to Auckland in October, and will be proud to wear the black trisuit through the streets. It's going to be an awesome event.