Mr. Irrelevant

I had to get my toes in the water to get ready for the course...

The last player selected in the NFL Draft every year is known as "Mr. Irrelevant."  It has become somewhat of a badge of honor with past recipients of the Mr. Irrelevant designation being honored with banquets, parades, and prizes.

In truth, no player selected in the NFL Draft is truly irrelevant.  It is quite an honor to even get drafted.  Think of the millions of high school football players who never even move on to play at college.  Then there are thousands of Division 1 college football players each season, but only about 200 or so are drafted.  So to have your name called on Draft Night really is a dream come true for any college football player.

My race bib and stickers for my gear...

That's kind of how I feel about this race on Saturday.  There are probably about 2,600 triathletes who will start the race.  I don't know how many will finish, but I do know that I want to be one of them.  There is a tradition that as the athletes enter the finish chute and near the finish line of these Ironman races, Mike Reilly (who has announced virtually every Ironman race for years--including the World Championships in Kona) will get their name and say: "Michael Smith...you are an Ironman!"

This is where the swim will start..love this white sand beach!

The race starts with a mass swim start at 7 a.m. CST.  2,600 competitors will sprint from the white sand on Panama City Beach and plunge into the surf of the Gulf of Mexico for a two-loop, 2.4 mile swim.  All competitors must finish the 26.2 mile run portion by midnight--17 hours later.  

They give you 17 hours to complete the race.  I intend to use all 17 hours if necessary, but I want to hear Mike Reilly call my name and say: "...you are an Ironman!"  If I can do that--even if I'm the last person crossing the finish line, one minute before midnight--it will be meaningful to me.  It certainly won't be irrelevant. 

If you want, you can follow my progress at: www.ironman.com on race day.  You can click on the race coverage box to track my progress or the progress of any of my fellow competitors.

There is supposed to be a live finish line camera as well.  This link may (or may not) work for that:  IMFL Finish Line Cam

Here are a few more pics from our first day of prep for the race:

My brother and I outside of packet pick-up...Note the official IM backpack swag (The IMSG backpacks were better  :-\)

I texted this pic to my kids.  Pay no attention to the man in the parking lot.  Inside the store was a total tourist trap!

Huge, massive hotels everywhere along the boardwalk...it reminded me of South Padre Island.

Did I mention that I've fallen in love with these white sand beaches?