Thursday, April 16, 2009

A fork in the road... which way to go?

It's been a few weeks so I'm very excited to write this post for a couple different reasons!

First, I started physical therapy last week and it has been going very well and I am finally feeling good! Lindsay, my physical therapist, is digging out my IT band that she said was incredibly tight, stretching me, giving me exercises and stretches to do every day, and puting electrical stimulation and ice on me. I'm happy to say that running is going really well now! I also went to Naperville Running Company and bought new shoes... AGAIN I KNOW!!!! Well first they video taped me running and I actually watched it this time where as at Road Runner Sports I just took what the guy said as the absolute truth and went with the shoes he recommended for me. On the tape I saw that I actually do pronate and am not completely neutral like he thought. I needed different shoes! I ended up trying on three shoes, a Brooks shoe, an Adidas shoe, and a Saucony shoe. I also watched myself run in every one of them. I ended up buying the Brooks Adrenaline 9 and drove off to run in them right away. They feel stiff as a rock since I'm used to less support from the DS Trainer and Newtons, but they worked like a charm and today I'm up to 28 minutes running comfortably with no pain! Next week Lindsay says I can start increasing my running time by 10 minutes and I'll be back to normal within no time and be able to do most of the races on my schedule no problem. THANK GOD! Can I say that again... THANK GOD!

Really, I'm saying thank God because I have some really awesome news! About a month back I got an E-mail from Jane Esahak-Gage in Arizona, she has been sponsored with Erin Baker's Breakfast Cookies for a while now and recommended I apply for a sponsorship from them as they were accepting applications. You can imagine the thoughts running through my head... oh no, I'm injured, I can't apply for a sponsorship! But then I sucked it up and told myself, injuries don't last forever and you'll regret it if you dont apply at least. So I mailed the application next-day air the day it was due! A week later I got a call from Bryan at Baker's who told me I was on the team! All I said was, REALLY???!?!? Haha but seriously this is one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me so I am very excited! I have to get a new bike, since Kestrel sponsors the team, which is also awesome! I sent the application expecting nothing, but I think this is proof that good things happen when you least expect it and my life will turn around... things seem to be going my way finally!

Here's a link to prove I'm not lieing!
http://www.bbcookies.com/shop/pages.php?pageid=29

Speaking of things going my way, being home in Illinois for the past five months... aka all of winter... sigh... has really gave me time to be alone and think about my life, what I really want, and what is best for me. I have realized that I cannot possibly stay in Illinois after living in Arizona for the past six years. What is important to me is being outside, enjoying nature while I train and meeting and learning from people that share my strongest passion. I can't do that here... at least from November to April (6 months... really?!?!?) I can't do that and that is just not going to cut it. So I've started applying for jobs and thinking about moving back to Arizona. I'm young, I need to make the best decisions for myself in order to be the happiest and live my ONE life to the fullest... and I just can't do it here. I started running and triathlon in the warm weather where I could train year-round. Switching to this is not working and it has made me very depressed. So, school might have to be put on hold for a while, but in the big scheme of things, I have my bachelor's degree, and I am happy I gave grad school a try and will definitely have it on my list of things to finish, but it's not as important as my overall happiness. I can't do well in school if I'm depressed all the time. So, I'm moving forward with no regrets, just a positive outlook on the future! I'll let you know more details as the plan unfolds, but I will definitely be staying in Illinois until my physical therapy is over in the end of May because recovering completely and having a healthy body to train on is number one on the list of priorities right now.

Time to go out for my run!

XOXO
Cori