Every Athlete has a Reason

Every athlete has a reason to put the practice in, a reason behind all of the hard work, the hours, days, weeks and months of training.  For us cyber athletes it’s the same.  All of our nightly sessions are leading us to one thing, the culmination of all our gaming sessions.  The events known as The Weekender, The LAN or the I’ve got an Empty House on Friday.  These events are what we train for.

I’m not talking about 24 hours of relentless gaming with a 10 minute break per hour.  That sort of madness is reserved for people with Guinness World Records.  I’m talking about heading out after work to a friend’s house or travelling to an organised event and setting yourself up for the weekend, fully prepared to play.

The gaming sessions are only part of the preparation for these things.  As a veteran of Endurance Gaming I’ve got some tips to keep a smile on your face and your energy levels up for the long haul event.

First:  Caffeinated drinks are lies, filthy lies.  Okay, a caffeinated drink may give you an hour or so more of gaming but there’s an unadvertised downside.  The amount of caffeine that you’ll be consuming will make you more irritable and, if you’re the sort of person whose inner hulk is barely contained normally, you’ll find yourself dressed in rags and surrounded by carnage at 6am.  If this doesn’t faze you and you do drink too many of them then when you do want to crash out you’re going to have a hard time of it.

Crash Time!
Crash Time!

Second:  Drink plenty of water.  Not only is water excellent for keeping you awake but when it’s time for bed your brain won’t be surging with caffeine power and you’ll be able to get a good sleep.  Water also acts as an appetite suppressant.  What’s that?  Offering up slimming advice in an article about gaming?  Well, kind of.  If you’re like me then sitting in front of you will be all sorts of food that you shouldn’t be eating.  Crisps, chocolate, sweets, ice cream – enough sugar to let your dentist cancel his other appointments and book his holidays.  This leads me on to:

Third:  Make sure you have a good breakfast in the morning, a reasonable lunch and a cooked (microwaving is cooking and don’t let anyone tell you different) meal in the evening.  You’re aiming to balance out your energy levels because when you’re on the last level or in the middle of an excellent multiplayer experience the last thing that you want is a sugar crash.

Fourth:  Sleeping is essential for maintaining the feel good factor all weekend.  I think it’s safe to say that everyone loves sleeping.  I know that I love sleeping.  Only people with a purpose willingly stay awake for twenty four hours or more and if you try that then it will catch up with you and it will be massive.  I was at a LAN recently where most of the attendees crashed around 5 on Saturday morning but one of our friends stayed up.  He played till midday on the Saturday then went for a kip.  We were packing up on the Sunday night when he finally made his reappearance.  So, if you’re getting to the point where your eyes are shutting then that’s bed time and there’s no point struggling on.  I’d recommend at least 6-7 hours of good solid sleep.

So that’s the essentials covered – caffeine, drinking, eating and sleeping – all you have to do now is concentrate on the gaming.

So you’re thinking, “Excellent advice Walter, thanks a lot, but where can I use it?”

Well, it just so happens that there are weekend PC/Console events on the go all over the UK.  Alternatively all you need to do is to get some friends together and put all this theory into practice.

I’ll give you a few tried and trusted links to get you on your way.

PC LAN Events

The Multiplay forums have a section for other LAN events to advertise.  This is an excellent place to find events which may be local to you.  You can find them here at this address http://forums.multiplay.co.uk/advertisements-other-lans/

England

Multiplay – www.multiplay.co.uk – Multiplay run I-series (Insomnia) events which typically run from a Thursday to a Monday morning.  These events are the largest in the UK, they run less frequently than others and can be quite expensive.

Scotland

Gumpcom – www.gumpcom.com – Gumpcom is a smaller independent PC/Console community who put 100 man events on every 2 months.  These are generally quite cheap and let you get an idea of what to expect at larger events.

Wales

Skynet – www.skynetwales.co.uk/news.php – Another local LAN, this LAN has been known to give away cash prizes!

Ireland

Gamecon – www.gamecon.ie – This is another smaller event, plenty of experience though, they have hosted over 14 LAN events.

Console LAN Events

XL LAN – www.matchbox360.co.uk – According to sources this is the UK’s largest Console only LAN event.

Playtime-Gaming, my adventure in hosting a LAN
Playtime-Gaming, my own LAN hosting adventure

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4 responses to “Every Athlete has a Reason”

  1. van-Fu avatar
    van-Fu

    I do it for two reasons only. To catch Geofortean’s gamerscore. And now, because I recently discovered that Zoey is a competitive gamer. So I like to excel at the games I like, to give Zoey an unattainable level of performance to strive for.

    That sort of thing makes me laugh.

  2. Wonderdog avatar
    Wonderdog

    Was trying to work out why I wasnt in that old picture… till I realised that I was holding the camera 😛

  3. MrCuddleswick avatar
    MrCuddleswick

    Good advice Walter, good advice. I have an old school LAN party coming up in the new year.

    It’s so hard to just give in and go to bed sometimes…..

  4. Shaft avatar
    Shaft

    Those were the days excellent article mate enjoyed reading it and seeing myself young again 😀

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