Melissa Breen  

The Canberra Times: Lee Gaskin

16 May 2013

Multiple bouts of food poisoning, her Australian 4x100m women’s relay team  missing out on a world championship berth by a fraction of a second and a random  drug test on her arrival back to Canberra on Tuesday night.

It’s no surprise then that sprinter Melissa Breen was relieved to be home  after an eventful two-week tour of Asia.

The London Olympian underwent blood tests on Tuesday as a precaution to  determine any lingering effects from constant stomach troubles during recent  competitions in Japan, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

But in a positive sign, Breen is over the worse of the calf injury that  forced her to sit out the national titles, and the 22-year-old has set her  sights on the world titles in Moscow in August.

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I will be competing again in Japan on Friday the 3rd of May.

I will be running in the 200m at 4.00pm (5.00pm AEST).

It is going to be a bit f a test running a 200m with minimal training done but I am excited to get another run in my legs.

I have pulled up well from my first competition back on Monday, and have trained well this week, bring on Friday, and please be a tail wind!

I will post results as soon as I can.

Mel xo

Ticking boxes. I got through my first competition in seven weeks, I didn’t feel my calf at all, although it felt very rusty and a little foreign after having a month off the track and only two weeks running I am happy to be back racing. It wasn’t as fast or didn’t feel as good as I though it might, but perspective is an amazing thing!

I was feeling good in warm up, for the heats and was ready to execute a good race, unfortunately some of my old habits decided to come out and play, and I ran with some tension especially in the first part of my race, not allowing maximum acceleration through drive phase. But lesson learnt, so my aim for the final was to set up my race better, allow myself to push off the ground without rushing it. And in the final, I achieved this, if it was a race to 70m then I would be very happy, I just lots a little bit of technique over the final stage of the race which cost me.

Despite these mistakes, I got through my first competition in seven weeks, so ticking boxes! I have a lot of racing coming up over the next two weeks, which may seem like throwing me in the deep end, but I need to get back in the deep end, continue to work on aspects of my race, get that feeling back of timing and enjoy racing without pressure, because I’ve already got the A and it’s all about Moscow now and being in the best possible shape come August 11th.

I head off to Shizuoka today by train, I will spend the week there and race again on Friday in a 200m, that will be a bit of a test as I haven’t had the track work I did before Sydney, but it’s all about exposing myself to racing again, getting through it in one piece and keeping the big picture in mind!

Mel xo

I have arrived safely in Japan, I will be competing in three meets:

• 29 April 2013 – 100m 47th Mikio Oda Memorial Track & Field Meet Hiroshima Japan
• 3 May 2013 – 200m JAAF National GP Series Shizuoka Japan
• 5 May 2013 – 100m Tokyo Grand Prix Tokyo Japan

For the sixth year in a row I will compete in Japan, perhaps this year is the most unknown though. I will compete for the first time in Hiroshima since I strained my soleus six weeks ago. I have been back in full training for a few weeks now, and I am feeling good and excited about being able to race again.

A massive positive though, is for the first time I have already achieved the A standard before racing in Japan, so unlike previous years, the pressure is off so to speak!

Race day here in Hiroshima in on Monday 29th, the 100m heats are on at 11.55pm (12.55pm AEST) and the 100m final is on at 2.50pm (3.50pm AEST).

I will post results as soon as I can.

Mel xo

The Canberra Times: Lee Gaskin

27 April 2013

Melissa Breen has one foot, a few fingers and most of her backside in the  door to the world championships.

All the Canberra sprinter has to do now is prove she has fully recovered from  a calf injury – and what better place to do that than at her home away from  home, Japan.

Breen’s sixth trip to the Land of the Rising Sun will be one of the sweetest  if she can grab the B-qualifying time that will guarantee her spot on the  starting line for the World Championships in Moscow in  August.

The 22-year-old Olympian will return to racing at a meeting in Hiroshima on  Monday for the first time since breaking down six weeks ago.

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Although I am still unable to run, I will be heading down to the Stawell Gift over the Easter weekend.

I am really looking forward to experiencing Stawell off the track, I will be defending my Fashions on the Field title which I won last year, and actively participating in the Little Athletics Clinic on Sunday morning.

Happy Easter everyone!

Mel xo

The Canberra Times: David Polkinghorne

26 March 2013

Mel Breen is using Australian golden girl Sally Pearson as a mentor and inspiration for the world championships and is hoping her injury will be a ”blessing in disguise”.

The Canberra 100-metre sprinter had three scans on the calf she injured in the lead-up to the Perth Track Classic a little more than a week ago.

There were fears she’d hurt her plantaris tendon, near the Achilles tendon, but it turned out to be a mild strain of the soleus muscle, part of the calf.

Breen returned to training on Monday, albeit confined to a waste-deep pool to minimise impact.

She has been able to continue her weights work despite the injury.

The 22-year-old is hoping to return to competition for the Japan athletics season at the end of April, but isn’t going to rush her return after being ruled out for the Australian season, meaning she cannot defend her national 100 and 200-metre titles.

Breen has already qualified for this year’s world championships in Russia in August and wants to ensure she’s fit.

She has been talking to Pearson, who hurt her hamstring in 2008 and missed the national titles, about using Russia to focus on her rehabilitation.

Pearson recovered from her injury and was cherry ripe for the Beijing Olympic Games later that year where she won silver in a photo-finish with the third-placed Priscilla Lopes-Schliep.

It was the start of her path to world domination.

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