Little bit of a new look for my online presence this year. New year, new look. Hope you like it!

The Polar Vortex is really doing a number on my training so far in 2014. I’ve been logging lots of hours on the trainer and on the trails, and even a few on the treadmill on the really rough days. Despite that, I have been putting in some of the highest volume I have done in at least a few years. Exciting times! It has been difficult on my body at some points, especially during some of the big focus weeks that Coach Tommy has thrown at me over the last 8 weeks, but I have more or less been delivering. No big breakthroughs yet, but it IS only February…and I think quite a few people will tell you they don’t want to be happening upon breakthroughs in February!

I am getting close to finalizing my schedule for racing this year. Tommy and I decided to spend the winter focusing on building the engine, and have been working towards a couple of half marathons (my first two ever) in late February/early March. The idea there is to give ourselves a goal to work towards while building a massive engine, one that I will need to be going full throttle come spring. A slight departure from last year, I will not be racing as much this upcoming season. I will have a longer season with more time in between races so that I can focus on performance on the days I do race. It works out because I will be doing a lot of championship racing this year that I will have to bring my A game to! Here’s where I’ll be in 2014:

February 17 Grimsby Half Marathon
March 2 Chilly Half Marathon, Burlington
April 5 Harry’s Spring Run-Off 8k, Toronto
April 27 Paris to Ancaster
May 10 Iron Hawk Duathlon, Harrow (Ontario Sprint Duathlon Champs)
May 25 MSC Woodstock Sprint Duathlon
June 14 MSC Welland Duathlon
July 19 USA National Duathlon Championships, St. Paul MN
August 24 MSC Toronto Island Duathlon
September 6 Esprit Duathlon, Montreal
September 14 MSC Lakeside International Duathlon (Ontario Duathlon Championships)

2014 will be about testing my chops against some high class race fields and seeing what comes out the other side. Fingers crossed for a healthy year (unlike last year) so that I can keep up the volume of training necessary to achieve the results I have my eyes on. If I can walk out of 2014 with a new half marathon PB, at least one provincial title, top 10 finishes at Esprit and US Nationals, and a spot at Worlds in Australia next year, I would be over the moon and ready for 2015.

I’m really very excited to see what this season brings, and what kind of results I am capable of. I have already had a glimpse of things to come last week, with my first FTP test of 2014. The bike has always been my weak point, and Tommy and I have been working diligently to get that part of my game up to snuff. I’ve spent some long hours in the saddle and on the trainer, hoping for some big things this year. The test was a big breakthrough. Coming in a little bit tired out from the Ignition Fitness Big Training Day the previous Saturday, I started off in a bit of trouble during the opening 5 minute set. The testing protocol we use involves a good warmup, followed by a 5 minute set building to max effort, then 10 easy minutes before a 20 minute TT. I settled right into a nice cadence on the 20 minute TT, however, and kept pushing all the way through. My power kept drifting upwards for the first 15 minutes after hovering around 215W for the first 10 minutes. A really good hard effort in the last 5 minutes pushed me on to my highest 20 minute power ever on the trainer (224.2W), and an 8W improvement on my FTP. It equates to a W/kg of about 3.72, which is miles better than I have ever been in the past…and it’s only February!!

Yes, I’m very excited for my 2014 season this year. I have some big races to come, and a good foundation of training built up. So thankful for the support I get from my beautiful girlfriend Emma, my family, and my co-workers. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them, or without my coach Tommy Ferris with Ignition Fitness. I’m going to try to put a summary post up once a month, as well as race reports, workout reports and general ramblings as they come. In the meantime, follow me on my social media!

Twitter: @duitjessebauer

Instagram: @duitjessebauer