Lawyer, lawyer, lawyer, did I say lawyer? Some great advice here but the one and only person who can give you the right answer is your legal counsel.
I was fired from a position and I had signed a non compete. I've been in my industry for 20 years so they really screwed me with the non compete because it was my best chance of places for a new position. Plus they knew once word got out that there would be clients trying to obtain me. Most of the friends and family that I talked to said that there's no way a non compete would stand up in court. I should go for any jobs that I wanted. I had plenty to choose from but decided to be smart and called a lawyer and she said definitely not. She said that they could sue me and did I want to end up losing my job and also having to pay them too. The non compete was only for 6 months and she said that a judge wouldn't find it unreasonable.
So although there's great advice here you can never be sure of the right course of action unless you talk to your lawyer.