Two weeks post-marathon glow, I found my myself pulling hard on the climbing wall. Unable to run again yet, I had stumbled back to my old playground to find that I stunk. Like, really stunk. After failing a few climbs, I laughed it off and took a seat on the mats.

To be totally honest, I was spinning a bit. I never expected to accomplish my goal. With the impossible done, a giant question hung in the air like a flashing neon sign:

Now what?

I dug my hands deeper into my chalk bag. This, I thought. I'll work on my climbing through the winter, and my speed in the spring. Time to focus on what I do best: climbing hard and running fast. Good job, me.

I told my climbing friends I was ready to train, and my running friends I was focusing on shorter distances...

and then I promptly put my name in the Chicago Marathon Lottery.

Leading up to the lottery deadline, I had started to feel like a character in a horror movie, who keeps seeing something flash out of the corner of their eye. It was a thought, one I would catch just before it slipped into the shadows and left me wondering if it was even there in the first place. Let's run another, it whispered.

I am not the first runner to be possessed by the spirit of the marathon, but I didn't expect it to come haunt me so fast. Torn between two futures, I decided to let the lottery determine my fate for me. If I got in, I'd run another marathon. If I didn't, I'd refocus on different goals.

The day of the drawing, I was on set at work. I was shooting a video for instagram, and the lead stylist had hijacked my cellphone as a prop. I turned off notifications, got it cleaned, and watched it sit idle as the photo team buzzed around it for the day.

That's ok, I thought, I'm not going to get in, lotteries are long shots.

Many hours and a few shots later, I picked up my phone and scrolled through my notifications to find out what 2018 would hold.

A marathon, it turns out.

AHHH Yikes! Here we go again- see you next year Chicago!

And just like this year, I'll be sure to document my journey every step of the way. Thanks for all of your continued support and wishing you all a very merry happy new year!

Chicago 2018