The Lottery

Normally I am of the mind that lottery's are taxes on fools. The odds of winning are generally ridiculous and I am better off keeping the money in my pocket. But what if that lottery was for a chance to go to Kona and compete in Ironman Hawaii? The odds are just about as ridiculous, there are only 50 spots, and the ticket price is $35.
After shelling out the $35 and filling in the page long application I have now entered the lottery! I am officially a fool for those of you who don't know me, and for those of you that do, have confirmed it!
My odds of qualifying for Kona are long at best. If the perfect day came together I might be on the fringes, but the damn guys my age are still doing ridiculous times. So it has come to this. apply to a lottery. The other option is to outlive everyone in my category.
The other thing I have been thinking is maybe with the economic downturn fewer people will enter the races. Maybe all the fast guys will lose their jobs and won't be able to go. It's an evil thought, but it could happen!
So my name is in the hat and the $35 is out of my bank account. Now I just need to wait until April to find out.
On another note today I went cross country skiing. It has been awhile and as a result it took a while to get ready. I skate ski so I needed to do a hot wax ( of my skis) prior to going. I was a little out of practice, but it did turn out fine and my wax was ideal for the conditions. Cross country skiing is quite a workout and I forgot how tiring it is. However it felt good and I was still able to do a 10 mile run afterwards.
Today is the first official day of training for IM Coeur d'Alene. A little less than 5 months to the race.
Have a great day!