Playing the marathon lottery.. and in life

Today the lottery for the 2015 NYC marathon opens. At noon today thousands will pay their $11 dollar processing fee in hopes of being one of the 50,000+. Later, probably next month, Chicago and Marine Corp will open their lotteries. Getting into any one of these fall marathons is exciting. There are only a few (well, thousands) of bibs up for grabs. Personally, I'm putting my name in all three. I would love to do NYC again, but Chicago is first on my list. Marine Corp scares me because of the weather, it's hot, but I want to do it. I also want to do the Air Force marathon and figure if I'm unlucky then I'll go run with the Air force. Service men... actually that could be way more fun.
The chances of getting in via lottery is pretty slim for NYC but pretty good for the others. Hopefully my chances will be good for Chicago. Spring marathons like London also have a lottery entry. Which is good because you can only qualify if your a UK resident:(. I personally feel like that's complete crap. All of the American races let international residents in through qualifying times. What gives Princess Kate? Playing the lottery for marathons is a lot like life. You never know what's going to happen but if you put your name in it can change you forever. You never know whats going to happen unless you put yourself out there. Playing the marathon lottery made me think of the parallels to dating and regular life. Taking a risk on something big and not being afraid to fail. You can go and choke or go and succeed, but you will never know unless you try. I honestly had no clue when I started all this that I could even finish a marathon but clearly I can. This year I want to take more risks and now I'm not afraid to fail. I have choked in races and you know what happens... Nothing! You get a crappy time but you went out and if you give it everything then it's better then nothing at all. I've failed horribly in the love department. This year I've decided that it's okay to fail, you never know if you don't try. I also have tried a new hair color and changed up my wardrobe a little. I'm getting older but I can still have fun. I really have no choice because Abercrombie Kids fits me the best:(.
So today at noon I will be one of the thousands trying to get the magic NYC ticket. I will also try my hand at Chicago and a few others. I will be one of many just hoping and waiting until March/April to see what city I'm prancing around next. Not only that but I will take some more risks and see where life takes me. Watch me get into all of them and have to make a decision. Oh shit... That will not be fun. Maybe mister magic lottery will make the decision for me. Until then my eye is on my half in 10 days back in NYC and less than 3 months to Paris!!