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Theisen-Eaton on health, competition, and her Wikipedia page

by Robin Tarnowetzki Journal Staff Writer October marks Women's History Month, which celebrates when women in Canada became persons under the law.
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by Robin Tarnowetzki
Journal Staff Writer

October marks Women's History Month, which celebrates when women in Canada became persons under the law. This year's theme is "Saskatchewan Women in Sport" to pay tribute to women in the province who have contributed significantly to athletics.

"Extraordinary women have been, and continue to be, critical to the development of sport in our province," said Jeff Herback, Sask Sport Inc. Volunteer President, said in a news release. "Many Saskatchewan women involved in sport have broken barriers, achieved national and international success, and have become true role models, leaders and builders for our province."

Humboldt has its very own successful athlete: Brianne Theisen-Eaton, who graduated from Humboldt Collegiate Institute.

She did her first track meet in Grade 7, and by Grade 9 she was part of the Saskatoon track and field club. From there, she kept on with it, though it took awhile for her to realize that she could be a professional athlete.

"All through high school my goal was, 'It would be really cool to get a scholarship so you didn't have to pay for school,'" she said.

It wasn't until her second year at the University of Oregon that she realized she could make track her career.

She was recently in the media when she won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow for the heptathlon in July.

"It was really cool. They did an amazing job putting it on, the crowd was great. I had a lot of fun," she said. "It went well. My goal was to get a gold medal and I did."
While Theisen-Eaton said that smaller competitions (like the Commonwealth Games) and larger competitions (like the Olympics) both have their own merits, but the larger ones are more fun for her.

"Obviously I like competing at the ones that mean the most, that have the most on the line," she said. "It's your opportunity to kind of show what you can do."

She lives in Eugene, Oregon, which is known as "Track Town, USA." She said she didn't have much culture shock when she moved, except that people in Eugene care a lot more about track.

"You just don't get that at home," she said. "That was a little bit shocking."

In fact, Theisen-Eaton has her own Wikipedia page. While she said that it doesn't feel particularly weird, she does wonder who wrote it, and her family and friends claim they're not the culprit.

She met her husband, Ashton Eaton, at university - he is also a professional track athlete. The two do almost everything together: train, cook, and go to meets. She said it makes things a lot easier with two careers that require a lot of travel - she estimates she's traveling 200 days of the year.

"Sometimes going to major meets can be uncomfortable," she said. "Especially if it's your first time being somewhere. Just having that person with you that you know, 'Okay I'm comfortable with them' it makes them a ton easier. Especially if you compete well when somebody you love and who supports you is there getting to witness it all."

She said it's nice that Eaton gets to see all the behind the scenes work that goes into the meets, so he can appreciate when she does well. She also added that when Eaton does well, she's almost more excited than he is.

"I know my family follows it and they see my good results and they're excited for me, but they don't see all the behind the scenes stuff, all the crying, all the joy when we're trying to work on something that we're not getting and we finally figure it out. So that's the really cool thing about him and I," she said.

Theisen-Eaton is in the track off-season now. Indoor season (with a shorter track) goes from Jan. to March. Outdoor season (with a longer track) goes from March to September. The off-season lasts for September and October, and then she starts training again in November. But that's not to say that she totally lets things slide in September and October.

"A lot goes into what we do," she said. "It's not just the actual physical training. It's eating right, getting all your treatments, making sure you stay healthy, sleeping. I would say it's pretty much a 24/7 job."

To keep her on track, she has a coach, a nutritionist, and a sports psychologist. She said everyone is a team and works together to accomplish a goal set forth by the coach.

She said that she is really interested in living a healthy lifestyle, and has thought about educating others on how to live a healthy lifestyle in a way that's simple and inexpensive.

"I think it can be really simple and a lot of people are really struggling and I would just love to be able to help people that way," she said. "Travel around and talking to women and young girls and young kids about what they're going through. There are simple changes and someone just needs to help educate them."

Unfortunately, Theisen-Eaton is quite busy - even in the off-season. She spends those two months visiting friends and family that she doesn't get to see during the season, but she wishes she could get back to Humboldt more often.

"It's funny because when I first moved away for school, I thought 'I just need to get out of here,'" she said. "The older I get, the more I'm like 'I can't wait to get home.' It's like that nostalgic feeling and childhood. I love coming home. I wish I could come home a lot more often."


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