Athletics- Eatons packing everything but the medals for Beijing

By Gene Cherry RALEIGH, North Carolina, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Decathlon world record holder Ashton Eaton and heptathlon favourite Brianne Theisen-Eaton will not be travelling light in their journey to the Beijing world championships. One elite athlete travelling to a country with unfamiliar cuisine for a major international meeting followed by a vacation in Japan might be expected to have quite a few bags with them. When it is a married couple both competing in multi-discipline events with high hopes of gold medals, the result is a mountain of baggage that would test even the most generous airline allowance. "1 month. 5 suitcases. 18 pairs of shoes. 20 pounds of food," the couple wrote recently in an attention-grabbing heading to a blog post. "Packing is an ordeal for us no matter where we're going, but this month long trip to Asia for the world championships is one of the biggest yet," the Oregon athletes added. So what are husband and wife taking? The Eatons -- he is American, she Canadian -- spell it out, complete with pictures, on their blog, www.weareeaton.com Along with shoes for non-training and competition, there is lots of training equipment: Pole vault poles, tape, bands and straps. But 20 pounds (9kgs) of food? "We normally don't go this crazy," they said. "However in China, we're not sure what will be available to us and although we enjoy trying food from different cultures, when we're going somewhere to compete we like to stick to what we're used to." There is a reason, they said. "It's important we keep up our protein consumption during competition, so bringing easy protein sources like salmon, tuna, canned chicken, beef jerky, nuts and seeds, and almond butter are perfect options," the couple pointed out. "Oatmeals and cereals make breakfasts easy, and we never go anywhere without gum or electrolytes." But there is more. "A hard drive with tons of movies because we sit around the hotel with nothing to do for most of the day," they said. Also, "Ibuprofen. After two days of competing, we're hurting." But even with the best laid plans, there is the last minute scramble. "We're always up really late the night before, packing, cleaning, and doing last minute errands," the couple said. And trying to remember to bring their passports. "Brianne has forgotten hers before." (Editing by Nick Mulvenney)