Hello, I would like to touch the topic of development of good sports programmers. Many wonder how people reach the ACM ICPC finals or, for example, get 2200 + on Codeforces / Topcoder. In this regard, I ask all those, who have something to say on this subject, and in particular the above-stated category of people, answer the following questions:

1. How much time are you engaged in SP?
2. What gave the most powerful incentive to it and when?
3. What resources and archives do you solve? (and how you could characterize them: acm.sgu.ru, acm.timus.ru, codeforces, topcoder, etc.)?
4. What programming language and environment are you using? (If possible with a short (or complete) commentary)?
5. How many hours a week do you spend on the SP (including whether your workouts are constant, or they are seasonal and are aimed for successful performance in a particular competition)?
6. Which way to prepare for a serious personal competitions do you prefer?
7. What motivated you most during your development, and motivates now?
8. What are the determining factors for reaching success in SP?

9 *. Additional comments on this topic.

At codeforces.ru there are lots of individual posts, which reflect some points of this theme, but I would like to collect all in one place.

The only adjacent informative blog entry, I know. "

Please do not flood.

Note: Abbreviation "SP" stands for "sports programming."