Natalie Van Coevorden- Australian Triathlete

Men in suits, women in heels and us in compression tights..a triathlon right bam smack in the central business district of London. The GE Canary Wharf Triathlon is a Super-Sprint Eliminator race. There will be 2 heats for men and women with faster finishers progressing to the finals. The race format is fast and furious with each racing lasting just 30 minutes. The multi-lap course offers spectators and coaches to watch through the swim, bike and run. The course is flat with 36 corners in 9km! To be honest, this race was not one of my favourite last year, having a negative experience learning the hard way with my cornering abilities and lack of fast twitch fibres. I was determined to change this and make this race show what I was capable of now. I wasn’t feeling that good all week, feeling alittle flat and maybe tired from the weekend race. With about half a bottle of oil to make sure my wetsuit came out quick, it was time to race.

Good enough to be a great World Cup course. Challenging, hilly, hot and the atmosphere that could not be asked for, San Sebastian or known as Donostia to the Basque people, is a race to put on the race calendar every year.   With my own smiling face on the race posters, it was time to see if I could back up again from last year.   Thanks again to Inigo for giving us free entry into the race and giving us an opportunity to race some tough competition on Spanish soil. A 9.15am, in Spain you are faced with the most intense entry to transition with your id, helmet, bike and race belt being checked making the process a lot longer than normal. With only a few minutes to spare, still trying to see the changes to last years swim course, I didn’t get the chance to a swim warm up. Before I knew it, the horn was blown and we were off. I had a pretty good start, heading straight out finding my rhythm early. This week in swimming, we have been focusing a lot of drills and technique and

It feels like I was just here but just under one year later, back to Banyoles for my third World Cup of 2012. Everyone waiting for the anticipated 8 blocks of chocolate and beer in our race pack but too many people’s disappointment it did not arrive. In the days leading up, I was confident in the training as the weeks leading up after Madrid had been going strong, focussing on key aspects that I knew I needed to work on.   Basically looking into the present and understanding how this will impact my races into the future. Lining up for race start in a low number was a bit of a shock with somewhat of the best 4 girls in the world infront of me. On the pontoon everyone went far left, so it was just one position after another filling up. With the heart beat music playing and without any on your marks and still a metre back from the front of the pontoon, the horn went off. Everyone just takes a little look at each other- are we m

"When you can’t change the direction of the wind — adjust your sails.” May has given me the chance to do this. I learnt my lesson early this month and had to adjust or fix what I was doing to achieve what I knew was achievable- the controllable’s that I can control. Everybody has 2 voices in their head- the angel and the devil per say that direct us. This year is all about taming the devil to play to the way I want this year to play out. When I look back to Huatulco World Cup, a race I rather forget but with a memorable hill, I had my first overseas hit out. I wanted to take so much out of the race. Take on the challenge of the one of the hardest courses in the ITU circuit and give it a run for its money. A holiday destination to some, the hard, hot and challenging course gave an insight into many and myself what it takes to be the best. I basically got spat out the back and forced to learn the hard way. With a some what unexpected and disappointing result, I was forced to be h