Welcome Part II

Welcome again to Virginia is for Health Nuts!!! I know Alexis already did a little intro on us and why we decided to write this blog but I wanted to write a little more about my experience with health, diet, and all things healthy thus far!

I grew up in Denver, which is also an incredible place to live a healthy lifestyle and I filled my childhood with tons of sports and activities. At one point or another I have played tennis, golf, swimming, lacrosse, basketball, and soccer. While each of these sports carried its own allure and their own successes and failures, the form of activity I was always drawn to was running.

I have had an on and off again relationship with running since I was about ten years old. My dad was always really into running, in fact he believes running will cure just about anything, and so he got me into it at a really young age. I started running a bunch of 5K races when I was 11, and I even got some awards for my age group (although I can’t imagine there were that many people competing). I continued running with my dad sporadically up until high school. Then my freshman year of high school, I ran cross-country for my school but for some reason running no longer carried the same allure as it use to. I was turned off by the competition of it all and only running to beat out someone else. I spent the rest of high school focused on playing tennis and only running every now and then when I would go to the gym.

I had always had a fascination with the east coast and when it came time to apply to college, I took the plunge and decided the University of Virginia was the place I wanted to go. I absolutely love it and the active culture of Charlottesville inspired me to start running again. I re-found my passion for running. It is now something that I do for me- it keeps me sane, grounded, strong, and healthy. I plan on running my first half marathon this September, which I am incredibly excited about (and a little nervous for!).

Growing up in Colorado, I have also always loved hiking. It is a big thing in Colorado to climb some of the 54 14,000 ft. mountains that we have. My dad and I have completed two so far! I will be writing about my experience climbing the third in a couple weeks!

I hope to write about all my ups and downs with running, healthy eating (trying to figure out what that means to me), and all the other random, trying to be creative ways I can think of to get exercise! Get ready for lots more things from Alexis and I!!

-Shelby