Welcome to episode 23 of the Chasing Bravery podcast! Today I am chatting with Dr. Stephanie Howe Violett. Stephanie is an extremely accomplished human both in the sport of ultra-running, as well as professionally. I am actually awe struck by how much this woman has accomplished so far in her life, while remaining a totally warm and open person to chat with- I suppose that this quality of hers goes back to one of her simple rules- don’t take yourself too seriously.

Stephanie and I chat about her career as a professional ultra runner, as well as what it was like working towards her doctorate degree and some of the challenges that she faced upon deciding to push forward with her chosen research proposal. If anyone is interested in checking out Dr. Violett’s published work just scroll down to the show notes for that information. Stephanie is an undeniably accomplished and motivated individual but that does not mean she doesn’t have set backs like everyone else. She was very open about some of the injury’s she has dealt with in her career, as well as the tough decision she made to just completely call it quits at one point. Stephanie did the thing that most of us dedicated athletes fear- she stopped exercising altogether and just let her body recover. Stephanie’s message was one I think many of us need to hear, which is that there is life without intense daily exercise, and that it is possible to discover who you are outside of your sport.

Enjoy this fantastic conversation with Stephanie!