MELISSA BREEN Age: Sport: Events:
She is tracking well
MELISSA Breen did not know Jai Taurima very well.
He was a star of a previous generation, winning the long jump Olympic silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, and while they were both Canberra residents their paths had rarely crossed.
But when Taurima revealed the heartbreaking story of his two- year- old daughter Indie Rose’s battle with leukaemia, Breen read about it on the Facebook page which had been set up to support the family.
Australia’s fastest woman was deeply moved to the point where she now looks back and says little Indie Rose helped put her life in perspective.
It was around the time of the Sydney Track Classic in March that Breen read about the Taurimas’ battles.
Despite five weeks earlier becoming a household name after breaking the long- standing Australian record, the 23year- old was struggling.
She had been swept away in the euphoria of the moment and was now having problems getting back on track.
“At that time I wasn’t running at my best so reading all these things gave you a greater perspective on life and how lucky we really are, where some people are struggling so much,” Breen said.
“Sometimes you just need a bit of a reality check that life is pretty good and I am very lucky to do what I do.
“In the end it is just running and I love to run. If it’s a bad run then that’s all it is, it’s not someone losing someone they love, it’s not someone dying, it’s just running.
“That perspective
has changed massively and not to put as much pressure on myself. I am lucky that I get to train every day, lead a healthy fit lifestyle and travel the world. I am very much appreciative of what I get to do.”
This new attitude combined with a healthy body has Breen excited about what she can produce later this month at Glasgow 2014.
Recent overseas ventures have been disasters with illness ruining last year’s world championships while in 2012 she spent most of her time in Eu- rope stressing about getting times to qualify for that year’s London Olympics.
This time she stayed back in Canberra for longer after figuring out, with her coach Matt Beckenham, that she was an athlete who thrived on a heavy training load.
“One of the biggest things we have learnt this year is that I need work in me to produce the results,” she said.
“Looking back at what we did before I broke the Australian record, I was still doing pretty big volumes.
“There is an element of taper, and I understand that, but you can go to the other end of the scale which is what we did do after I broke the record, we didn’t really train enough.
“One of the biggest things we learnt is that you can have a big week and can still race at the weekend.
‘‘ It’s not a matter of you have to have three rest days or anything like that.
“I need to keep in touch with the track and not get lazy to be honest.”
Breen’s 11.11sec in February would have won the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi but as she puts it “no one was there” compared to the calibre of field she will face in Glasgow.
Having proven she can run fast, her focus is no longer on the clock but rather making an impact at major championships.
“Everyone asks me what time I want to run at the Commonwealth Games, but it’s irrelevant.
‘‘ I just want to beat people.”