After a welcome return to form, Eden is in full training for her first competition of the 2011 season, the McCain City Challenge on February 6th.
Competing only in Shot Put, as this is an indoor event, the City Challenge sees eight nationwide City Teams compete against each other, over two league matches, for the title of MCC Champions 2011. This first event for Eden will bring together the top five shot-putters in the UK, plus Heptathlon World Champion Jessica Ennis.
Talking about her training, Eden said, “Everything is going well and I’m back up to speed and my weights are improving. The City Challenge will be a good indicator of how well my training has gone. It could be a tight competition and if it goes well, I know I’m on track, but I also have the chance of assessing my performance and re-working my training strategy if it doesn’t go so well. Either way it will set me up well for the outdoor events in the summer.”
Eden’s training regime consists of six days a week and is a good mix of track, gym and pool. Every six to eight weeks she also includes a testing week where her coach will measure her performance against previous performance on set exercises including overhead shot, 30m sprint, 3 hops and jump, plus standing long jump. All the results are recorded and put on a chart so that she can see how well her last period of training is affecting her strength and speed and ultimately used to ensure she is training to the best of her ability.