Natalie Van Coevorden- Australian Triathlete

30 days has September, April, June and November…right? I am not sure where they have all gone but December is now at our door step.   November consisted of soaking up too much sunshine, finding delicious cafes, catching up with what feels like long lost friends,   spending some extra hours lying around in bed and doing some things for myself aka the most dreaded dentist.   I have learnt to make the most of the time off as “reality” comes hunting you down way too quick. Back up in the clouds, I am soaking up the minimal oxygen up in Falls Creek once again to start the year. It’s a beautiful place up here, quiet and easy to revert back to fundamental basics which are important for this time of year.   I don’t get much time to explore Sydney but every year Bondi puts on the Sculptures by the Sea. It’s a free exhibition set up along the beaches from Tamarama to Bondi with a new thought process every year. You can get alittle crazy with it by bending down and doing what some of the

My Season Review for 2013 Devonport Oceania Sprint Championships, February – My first race of the season and it was time to dust some cob webs off to start the year. I had a decent swim but just missed a few girls up the road and was forced to ride in the middle of two groups. My run did not help me either after such a hard ride and finished 7 th . Wellington Oceania Olympic Championships, March- My second race was much better with a solid swim but we ended up riding as one big group for most of the race. A massive positive was a sight of my run form coming through with a sprint finish for 4 th place and making it through my first Olympic distance for the year. ' Mooloolaba ITU World Cup, March – A small but quality field, coming out of the water with the lead girls would change the aspect of the race. We rode strongly over the 40km but I became the one dictating the pace at the front up the hills. A hot and hilly run put me in survival mood bu

  There is something about Tongyeong that I really like. The Starbucks there does help my cause. The fish smell everywhere, rice is plentiful, symbols that mean nothing to us and a pretty unique place that not many people get to adventure into. The last race before heading home back to Australia after five months, I was excited to have a good race and put the last few weeks of training after worlds into a solid result. I knew if I was in Vitoria and not at home, I wanted to take things seriously and make the most of my time left overseas. Thanks to Eric at Jardines de Aristi Aparthotel for looking after us for the past 5 months. You make us feel more than welcome and some where we can call home for half the year. We had long hours of travel from Europe with a funny and hour wasting experience in Paris on our 7 hour stopover to find a swimming pool. Our women’s’ sense of direction or maybe Google maps got us there eventually. Mostly importantly was to get over jetlag quickly an

Some would say I am a jet setter. I get onto the plane with the hope of a new airline magazine is there to entertain me for the first 10 minutes, usually with some pretty pictures. A text "Journeys" in the Air France magazine after six plane trips and six reads, I had to tear it out. Although I did attempt to read it in French, I turned the page and the English version was awaiting my read. It reminds me of the first time I did get on a plane; the novelty and uniqueness of being high above the clouds. I have to admit it’s not the same anymore. A few plane trips a month allows the mind to wander- "images of people and things we’ve seen, loved, dreamed of, yearned for, in places and times frequently distant from another". My thoughts generally although consist of did my bike get on the plane, how long do I have to sleep, what did I forget and the list is endless…       My journeys this month have been twice to France and once to London. I would say I have

London Under 23 World Championships Once a year, there is a race with this fancy title - world championships. My third time representing Australia, it is always such an honour and pride to be wearing the green and the gold. I have been very lucky over the last few years with the other girls getting picked being my other training partners or often known as the “Wollongong wizards”. Vitoria has been a perfect lead up environment with everyone developing a focus to be the world’s best. Leading up London, I had a solid race the French GP in Sartrouville placing 2 nd . This gave me great confidence in my racing with a breakaway of four of us , gaining 2 mins before the run. Coming down to a sprint finish, I just didn’t have the last kick in the last few metres but none the less, it was an exciting and challenging racing. I knew all year, gaining strength in one discipline sometimes means it affects the strength of another. The opportunities that I have had this year to develop my races

  One of my favourite cities on the World Triathlon Series circuit, Stockholm is a beautiful and unique place to hold a race. Some of the busiest bike paths, everyone commutes on bikes and I feel like we are understood. The feeling of being underdressed, surrounded by plenty of men in business suits, lots of coffee shops and a buzzing atmosphere in the city. Having a day off on Thursday when we arrived, I took the opportunity to stretch the legs in the central of Stockholm, do a lot of window shopping and put the feet up at local coffee shops. We stayed in a perfect location this year with the swimming pool being 300m, running trails alongside the water and still close to race sight. I wanted to come back this year with more confidence in my ability to ride this type of course and see where I am at before London in a few weeks time.   Race morning was pretty relaxed with a morning swim in the pool as I didn’t plan on getting into the water at race start. A chill 14.7 degree

My third year back to Tiszaujvaros, my third year competing in the semi and final format, I was excited to get racing. Our trip started with a little overnight stay at the Adams family Budapest airport hotel. A very cute, yet creepy place, everything from the staff to the style of the room to the playing of the theme song as soon as we got into the bedroom, it was an interesting experience to say the least. Arriving in Tiszy, it once again turned on the heat when we arrived and it felt just like Vitoria has been over the last few weeks- nothing different to us. I was pretty lucky with our room having air conditioning, which was nice to get a good night sleep every night. I couldn’t figure out why everyone was complaining..Tiszy only being a small place has a great atmosphere and it was awesome to still see a triathlon to put them on the map. Semi Final I was ranked third going into the semi and I knew it was going to be tough to get through. This heat had very strong swim/bike

One year ago, 55 women and 55 men from 37 nations were lining up on the pontoon to start in the most important race of their life. Millions of eyes around the world and thousands of supporters lined the course to watch a race to gold. My eyes were glued to the TV here in Vitoria as I waited for who would be the new Olympic champion for triathlon in London. Who would have thought after 2 hours of racing three women would be sprinting down the blue carpet? I can remember every session from that day, probably because it was pitch black and 9.30 at night when my day concluded and I couldn’t be any more motivated with an Australian and a hometown girl, Erin Densham receiving a bronze medal. In 39 days time, I will get my chance to go to London to represent Australia in the Under 23 team for World Championships. I am very happy the team was announced earlier than expected as I can not only physically but mentally prepare for the demands of race day. This is my third year on the Austr

Thank you, Danke, Gracias, Merci- I still don’t think I knew what country I was in or what country I was from. Hamburg is spectacular with beautiful buildings, the best shopping (window shopping unfortunately), an awesome place to run around the lake and thanks to the organises for mapping out the 45km training ride loop. The country side of Hamburg was something different to the inner city life and was perfect for pre and post race spin. I actually got really tired with no traffic lights to let me take a breather ;)   After Palamos World Cup the weekend before, the week leading into Hamburg was all about soaking up abit of R and R or “mad chilling” as I like to put it. After racing Hamburg last year, I knew what was coming for me- fast swim, faster bike and an even faster run. I made vital mistakes last year that I didn’t want to make again. Speaking to Jamie I knew I needed good positioning from the front end of the race to get more near the front at the end. A later st