Home Advantage

One of the areas of the MdS that I think is going to be most difficult to prepare for is the psychological challenge - how am I going to keep motivating myself to do it day after day? There are a few reasons why I'm talking about this now, partly to do with me and partly due to some of the recent sporting events. Starting with me, I haven't trained for a few days now due to slight health scare which fortunately turned out to be nothing serious. However it did mean I had to take my first sick days off work for well over 10 years! So what relevance does this have to the mental side of the MdS? Well it's all about what makes you feel good. Obviously feeling ill isn't great but the lift from the good wishes of my friends made me feel so much better.

Some of the big sporting events over the weekend were the British Grand Prix and of course Wimbledon. Both events featured 'home' competitors. And lets not forget Brazil won the Confederations Cup in Brazil. So what is 'home advantage' and is it something I can tap into for the MdS? On the face of it, of course not, it's in Morocco - I've never even been to Morocco so I can't claim it as a 'home' event. However....

Lets look more closely at what factors come into play when you are at 'home'. For some sports there are very prosaic factors such as a knowledge of the nuances of the field of play or being acclimatised to the conditions - its probably not unreasonable to suggest that Mohamad Ahansal's MdS performances are down to the fact he is a superb athlete in an environment he knows very well.

One of the sports that seems to have a particular preoccupation with home and away is football. Its fair to say that all grounds are different and there is some variation allowed in the pitch size but is that such a significant factor? My belief is that psychological factors make a far bigger difference. When you at home you are in your environment, there are friendly faces around, you know where everything is and how it works. However I think the biggest factor is the support, when you are at home the majority of the people watching are urging you on to win. Andy Murray has commented on the importance of home support as he heads into the second week of Wimbledon.

However for the MdS there is no crowd roaring you on but there is something I hope will be almost as good - the daily emails. Technology allows competitors to make phone calls to family and friends during the event, although it is discouraged, but I want to stay true to the event and restrict my connection to the outside world to my daily email out (if I'm not too exhausted to send one!) and the daily emails sent by friends and family. For those that don't know anyone can send a message to a competitor via the MdS website, they are collated and handed out on a daily basis.

I want to feel that people at home are interested, that they care about how I do. If I want that I have to give something back - I want to feed off their energy but not drain them. That's what this blog tries to do, its why I talk about my preparations to anyone interested. I'm also planning a 50th Birthday/MdS Farewell party just before I go to try and further enthuse my friends and family. What will keep me going is those daily messages and imagining my friends and family tracking my performance on the MdS website and urging me on.

So yes, I do intend to gain 'home advantage' even if I'm a long way from home!