TEAM STL Merchandise Is Now ONLINE!

TEAM STL apparel is now available online. Just click here and you will be able to purchase professionally designed casual wear for pre or post workout. Perfect for when you want to hang out at Kayaks or The Bread Company or when you just want to look cool trying to impress Lynn & Beth. We even have a BBQ apron! Check back often for the latest products, and remember that we can customize based upon your request! GO TEAM STL!

Club Pepper

Club Pepper now features spinning classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday mornings and by appointment (just in case you miss a workout and need to come during your lunch hour). The facility boasts eleven bikes, a wine refrigerator (no wine but a wide variety of Gatorade & H20) and plenty of Elizabeth's toys. Lockers are available for an extra fee (bring your own lock). This upscale athletic club offers unique fitness programs for people of all ages and interests. The folks that belong to Club Pepper have a passion for improving their lives through fitness, wellness, sports and fun!

Team STL Logo

I expect huge apparel sales from this new team logo - coming soon to an online retailer near you! We're talking shirts, hats, coffee mugs, mouse pads, THE WORKS!!! It still needs to be determined if this is a violation or not since it contains the m dot. Waiting to see if Seiichi throws the penalty flag.

Push Ups & Sit Ups

With 225 days to go it is time to kick off operation UPPER BODY! The main goal is to actually develop an upper body. Most importantly I am looking to strengthen my CORE. 50 push ups and 50 sit ups each night is what we are starting with. Grabbing a couple of days each week to lift weights has been the most difficult part of the training so far. Getting in the swimming, biking and running has not been a problem but trying to hit Wellbridge again later in the day has been tough. Time to get after it though.

Inspiration

Preparation puts you in a position to win,
Effort and attitude determine the outcome.

RESPONSE COURTESY OF BILL CRAGG:
"Bill's preparation (sucks for the most part but, getting better) Win, I doubt it but I'll take the moral victory of finishing Ironman any day. Effort - I'm a minimalist....lol. At least when it comes to training. Too much in life to enjoy. Attitude - well, that is a variable. Some days its...."c'mon baby, let's get at it" With the weather and early mornings, it's more like..."what the ...F#$)(#*)(*$)(*!__!....am I doing up so early anyway?" Maybe I should read John's book too. Julie, any suggestions?"

Let's Go Spinning Mate

This morning's workout started at 5am - just in time for Pepper and I to catch the third and final set of Fernando Gonzalez's straight set victory over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open Tennis Tournament from down under. Please note that ESPN's coverage of this Grand Slam started at 230am central time and PEP and I were watching LIVE action. Something tells me that we are getting up way too early.

Lucero

Hold on to your aerobars because here we go! Strass' new full carbon Lucero is so incredibly light, so remarkably nimble, so well-crafted, that it will instantly take MY potential and make it a glorious reality (at least that is what the QR web site says it will do). Lucero is Spanish for a bright shining star - I hope that this bike (and its rider) lives up to its namesake. Corky and the boys at Ghisallo hooked me up with this awesome piece of machinery. You can expect an unbelievable change in my biking performance thanks to the multi-layered carbon fibers that are molded with a state of the art resin pregnation system that delivers a precise, unified structure for the ultimate in stiffness and lightweight performance. I don't know what any of that means other than it should be able to kick the sh*t out of the Taiwanese made Scott Plasma that Rosenthal is riding.

Idiots & Morons

Some people completely lack the ability to put the past behind them and focus on the future. Some people like to rehash and second guess what has already been "done". I am not one of these people because I don't see the value in looking backwards - I AM ALL ABOUT THE FUTURE. Seiichi, however, likes to continue to second guess his decision to do IM Moo...

Dr. Noda: "Just got my Feb issue of Inside Triathlon. 2007 tri guide. The first line for Ironman Wisconsin: "One of the toughest iron -distance courses in North America is known to serve up some extreme weather that can make this race infinitely challenging." Meanwhile the description for Ironman Florida: "with its pancake flat course, pleasing scenery and comfortable November temps, Ironman Florida appeals to the Kona minded veterans and eager newbies alike." Can anyone say idiots and morons?????????????"

Strassner: Now, that is Seiichi's take. My take is that if you are going to do IM then do it! Jump in with both feet and go for it. Don't pick a race (Florida) just because you think it is going to be easier because easier is not always better. Challenge yourself by taking on a tough course. When you cross the line in Wisconsin nobody will ever be able to say that you did the easiest Ironman out there and you will be that much prouder of your tremendous accomplishment. Plus, you don't have to ship your bike to Wisconsin!

I guess that this is the difference between a heart surgeon and a sales guru.

Testing

The nine week base training has ended and it is time for testing once again. There seems to be some confusion surrounding the spin test - luckily, we have Dr. Bill Cragg to explain what we are suppose to do...

"Ok, I will try to explain this one for you all in the simplest of terms.

If you take the H.R. percentages divided by the RPMs you may extrapolate the Watts (power outage) on your bike. Increasing your cadence while maintainingyour resistance is challenging throughout long endurance training as it has adirect effect on your VO2, HR, and efficiency. In mathematical terms; if you take the coefficient of friction (Tommy...Kevin can help you with this by the way) and multiply it by sin (theta) over cos (beta) you will get the desired results. All of this is really irrelevant bull shit over the grand scheme of things because what he is telling you makes no more sense than trying to decifer what the hell I just wrote.

The bottom line....it doesn't matter what cadence, heart rate, Watts, or bike you ride. The bottom line is that two weeks prior to the race, John's HR is going to be so damn high he may be in need of Seiichi's services. This will render not only John "out of Wisconsin" but also Seiichi (as the good doctor will then be on call and John will be paging him every minute). One week prior to Wisconsin Strassner will have a massive Cardiac event. Tommy will geta call from Suzi asking what she and the kids should do about their house and whether or not she can roll the mortgage over into her "boyfriends" and move in with him. Tommy will be overworked with this that he too will miss the race. It goes without saying, John's large life insurance policy is pretty hefty. Suzi will be looking for some really nice new furniture and so Pep will get the call a few days prior to the race. He's done now too. Now, if I can only figure out a way in which you all suffer great deals of back pain I can stop my training now, get fat, go back to playing golf and not do the damn race either. Your math class is done. Maybe I should go teach Luc's class.

LOL Bill

2006 Age Group Rankings

TR was 2277/4572 or top 49%
JS was 2424/4572 or top 53%
MP was 1464/2656 or top 55%
SN was 2496/3686 or top 67%
BC was 3364/4572 or top 73%

New Attitude, New Logo, New Underwear = WE'RE GOLDEN!

In keeping with the new "positive attitude" approach, I figured that it was time to come up with a logo to keep me inspired in 2007. You will soon be able to purchase the J Mdot S logo at an online retailer near you! Remember, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Book Club

Oprah has her book club so why can't Julie Pepper and I have one of our own??? The Secret deals with the power of positive thinking. I am learning how to apply the law of attraction to my Ironman journey. This is a powerful and inspirational book that teaches that you are what you think about. In terms of Ironman, believe that you can do it and you will. After finishing this book I am going to move on to the Little Engine That Could.

Lance & Will @ The ESPYs

Will Ferrell presents award to Lance Armstrong at the Espy's...click PLAY BUTTON

Rule #76

Rule #76:

No Excuses - Play Like A Champion!
--Wedding Crashers

Triathlon Training Tips By Bill Cragg

1. Make a schedule.
2. When you do...stick to the schedule.
2a. redo the schedule
2b. modify it again
2c. can we check it again?
3. Train with partners of equal ability and goals.
4. Upgrade your bike and other equipment whenever you see fit.
5. Schedule some races.
6. Discuss it with your wives
7. Ignore her wishes. (Now wake up...! You're dreaming again.)
8. Train at ridiculous hours of the morning.
9. Get a leg up on your training pals showing off on your buddy's new equipment.
10. Break your damn (!@*&%#@)(*% leg falling off that equipment.

- trainer with rollers $250.00
- Lemond Road Bike $2200.00
- Old end table in the basement....$ 5.00
- Falling off the damn Lemond Bike and trainer onto the floor and not on the table...

LUCKY AS HELL!

11. The fact that your camera happy buddys didn't have their camera perched over you to capture "The Fall"....priceless.
12. The fact that it doesn't end up on a buddy's website....very priceless.
13. Purchase webcam $29.00
14. Downloading SKYPE.......Free Baby.

January Ghisallo Ad

Well, here you go - the January ad for Ghisallo (center page spread in SBR the magazine) featuring a great shot that I took of Drew Sundet at the U City kids triathlon this past summer. If this doesn't bring in a bunch of customers for Ghisallo then I don't know what will. Make sure that you visit Corky and his entire crew at Ghisallo for some great deals.

2007 Race Schedule...It's Sign Up Time!!!

2007 Race Season
April 15	Spirit Of St. Louis Half Marathon	Half Marathon
May 6	Race For Sight (Columbia, MO)	Sprint Tri
May 20	Memphis In May (Memphis, TN)	Olympic Dist Tri
June 23	Quartermax (Innsbrook, MO)	Quarter Dist Tri
July 22	Spirit Of Racine (Racine, WI)	Half Ironman
August 19	Pleasant Prairie (P Prairie, WI)	Olympic Dist Tri
September 9	Ironman Wisconsin (Madison, WI)	Full Ironman