CrossFit Athletic Group

"It is not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring" - Spanish proverb

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"You can't fake it in a marathon"- Matt Fecht

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"This f****** sucks" - David Sap

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Dillon's signs are College GameDay worthy

I believe one of the main drivers behind the "analytics" movement in sports is a fear of making decisions. Uh oh, the game is getting tight... Do I go for it on this 4th down? Oh nice, here's a little index card with fancy stats and percentages that can I can blame my decision on. And who should I sign as my next free agent? Let's look at these obscure efficiency metrics and justify it that way.

But no matter how much basketball and baseball and football try, running produced the single most effective analytic a long, long while ago: your time.

Did you tag your friend before they reached the safe zone? Was your time faster than your opponent or slower than your opponent? Was your time faster than your last meet or slower than your last meet? And since this particular metric is so consistent across the board, it is by far the most overemphasized and overanalyzed metric in the world of sports. If you ran faster than the person you're racing against, what exactly can you take from that? If you ran slower than your last race, what exactly can you take from that? Can you validate running technique, training programs, meal plans, pre-race routines, and lucky underpants based on what the timer said? What kind of predictions can you make for your future race times, and how certain are you of those predictions?

If you are looking for a conflicted and corrupted corner of sports, this is surely it: determining cause and effect when it comes to athletic training and sports performance is really, really difficult, if not impossible. Did chicken nuggets help Usain Bolt blow the rubber off Beijing's track? Did Nike Shox help Vince Carter jump over a 7-foot dude's head? Well, maybe those are ovbious no's, but what about Conamora committing to play soccer at Florida: Did her deadlift get her there? What about Matt's top-50 finish at the Trials: Was that due to his Murph time? Did Cecilia's Fran record get her National Player of the Year? Or on the other end, did Chase lose to Brother Rice in districts last year because something in our CrossFit program was lacking? Did Dillon hurting her knee last season mean we've been practicing squatting and jumping the wrong way. And, most importantly, how qualified am I to answer those questions?

As a fan, the only qualification I have is to appreciate the effort. Point blank. If I wanted to analyze or judge I would need to upgrade to "coach." And that is exactly why I admire this morning's marathon and half marathon crew so much: they did not have a coach other than their own self during this entire process. It took nuts for them to put their name on the line and attach a goal to it. I have no opinions on how they did or what to improve for next time because I've never been in the bullring. In fact, I remember cheering on some poor bastard decomposing about a half mile from the finish line today: "Keep working my man! You got it!" I said to him, then after he passed I thought to myself, sheeeeiiiitttt, easy for me to say. The following people could have something to say, though:

• Mrs. Hill (full)
• David Sap (full)
• Bubs (full)
• Josie (full)
• Mr. Kuiper (half)
• Mr. Francis (half)
• Mrs. Carey (half)
• Mr. Carey (half)
• Moustaache (half)
• Anto (aka Fat Tony) (half)
• Jennifer (half)
• Elizabeth (half)
• Ricky (half)
• Megan Kav (half)
• Erin Kav (relay)

And how did they all do for themselves, exactly? Don't ask me, they're the ones that did it.

Love you guys for real! In this frame I am truly a fan!

Chris

Also, I have contemplated whether or not to include this last paragraph due to the obvious favoritism, but after thinking it over for longer than I probably needed to I believe Bubs deserves a special shout. From my eye view she was the instigator of this mini marathon boom, turning us from a soccer gym to a running gym, and she did it without advertising it or pressuring anyone else to do it with her. Leading by example is still undefeated when the right personality is attached to it.