Jake Mcdonald Tricast: Health | Fitness | Happiness

Stephanie Howe Violett, PhD. Running has always been a big part of my life, whether I liked it or not. When I was young I didn't love to run. In fact, I hated running. I was a good athlete, but didn't appreciate the gift I had. As I grew up, I realized that I was built to run. I finally accepted that I was an endurance athlete and not a star softball player. I joined the cross country team my freshman year and found a family in the cross county kids. They instantly accepted me, a skinny 14 year old with braces......who loved to run. The Gazelle was born. In college, I raced both Nordic skiing and cross country at Northern Michigan university, where I was a two-time All-American. I was still working on my relationship with running; I liked it and had some success racing, but wanted to pursue Nordic skiing. The thing is, I'm not a skier. I'm a gazelle, and that means I run. It wasn't until after college that I really fell in love with running on the trails. I studied Exercise Physiology at Montana State Univ