Post-Marathon events, training, and sponsorships...and plans to come!

Hello and happy February! It is hard to believe that the Olympic Trials Marathon was 3 weeks ago today, already! This June-uary weather has made the runner in me hit the streets more than I should be, as I try to heel up some tightness and soreness. The "off season" makes me ancy and I just can't seem to keep the running shoes off!

Events
My schedule has drastically changed from final marathon training preparation, leading up to Houston, to completing my 3rd of 4 clincial internships for my Doctorate in Physical Therapy. I have completed 3 of 8 weeks, working at Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa as a student intern, inpatient physical therapist. I am learning a lot  and enjoying the experience! I have been blessed with a family home stay, in Cedar Falls and have really enjoyed getting to know them and being part of their family for these 2 months.

Training
The voices on my shoulders: The runner  and the physical therapist. The runner: The sun is out, the temps are high, and it's a great day to get out there and run! You will get out of shape if you don't... The physical therapist: The tightness in that left hamstring is not getting any more lose with every step you take running! Take time off from running, recover, and STRETCH!
I hear these two voices EVERY DAY!

The Cedar Falls neighborhood I am surrounded with provides various residential roads, turns, hills -big and small, and mininmal traffic. Fellow runners can be spotted at 5am or 5pm, making it a safe and comfortable atmosphere. I even see and join in the miles with my "host Dad", which is a great time to chat and catch up on our day. I have also had great opporunity to swim laps at the local YMCA, using sweet water proof headphones, courtesy of my "host mom". I have never had the bumpin' tunes with my strokes... it.is.awesome! The time goes by like craze. My host family their own "gym" set-up in the basement, equipped with a recumbent bike, elliptical, treadmill, pully machine, yoga mats, physio balls, foam rollers, bosu balls, and dumbbell rack... I drooled a little when they gave me the tour :) As you can see, I am truly blessed with my training and home in Cedar Falls!

Sponsorships
Prior to competing in the Olympic Trials in January, I was selected to be a part of the Saucony, Team Hurricane program and will continue to represent the Saucony company in my races, training, and running activities. Saucony is a brand that exists for runners... to inspire them, bring new ideas, forcing them to be better and to drive the company's design and engineering. Saucony produces running shoes, as well as running gear and products to fit the needs of all levels of runners. I enjoy their philosophy of, "At Saucony, a good day is when we get to run. A great day is when we inspire someone else to run." Check the company out at: www.saucony.com for shoes, gear, apparel. It is an honor to have the financial support for gear and supplies to assist my running career. I am excited to speak to an elementary school in Charles City next week, to share my marathoning experience and to provide them with some fun Saucony gear and philosophy for an active, goal-driven lifestyle. I look forward to representing the Saucony name and team as I continue to race and inspire others into a healthy and active attitude for life.

I am also very excited for my recent sponsorship selection for PowerBar Team Elite. PowerBar is a sports nutrition company that aims to help athletes reach goals through proper nutrition and training approaches. From energy/protein bars, energy gels, sports drinks/mixes, protein supplements, to  training gear and training plan articles and resources, PowerBar is a great reference for any athlete in training. Check out the website and everything it has to offer at: http://www.powerbar.com/
I am pumped to have the financial support for training nutrition and supplies, and to represent this brand in my running.

Plans to come...
I will be running my first race of the spring -Shamrock Shuffle 8k, in late March in Chicago with my fellow Runablaze Iowa club teammates. I will run 2 half marathons in April and May and will start the summer season off with the Dam 2 Dam 20k in June. These next few months will include a lot of school and internship work, as I work toward my graduation on May 26, 2012. The training will be consistent, but will be secondary to my Physical Therapy future and career potential. Stay tuned for more posts, ~1x/week to read up on my training and who knows, likely some funny experiences I get myself into.

Happy Weekend! Go move those legs!
DK

WAIT-  How could I forget?!... Justin and I did some training a couple weekends ago in Des Moines. I shouldn't tell you this, but as a post-marathon reward, we downed major chow at Zombie Burger... just minutes before hitting the ice. Don't tell PowerBar.