Ironman Wisconsin 2003
Pete Alfino

Oh what a year. Never before has a season been as complicated as the one I've just completed. The minute I pulled into my driveway in 2002 I walked inside and signed up for the September 7, 2003 Ironman race. I knew I had a better Ironman in me than my previous two races and 2003 would be "the year". We've all heard the saying "enjoy life while you can because you never know when the things or people you love the most can be taking away from you". On June 26th, approximately 9 weeks before my race my life change. The week before my accident I had just completed a 20-hour training week and was feeling good mentally and physically. Then one evening as my wife and daughter were returning from a late night walk I noticed that some flowers covered the address sign in my front yard. I pulled the ceramic tile sign, which sits on a wrought iron pole out and remembered thinking to myself, be careful the ground is hard in Colorado. As I pushed the sign into the ground the tile split in two and the jagged edge from one piece penetrated my right wrist. My hand and fingers went completely numb. Fortunately I missed the main artery but the end result was two severed thumb tendons, a partial tear to the index finger tendon and medial collateral nerve damage. Surgery was performed June 30th and I was placed in a cast, which went half way up my forearm and completely encased my right hand. I would spend the next 5 weeks in a cast. The Dr. told me 12 weeks to a full recovery and the race was 9 weeks away.

The month of July and the first week of August were spent on a spin bike loaned to me by my friend Guy Sigley. I had never spent more than 1.5 on a spinner before and now I was faced with rides up to 5 hours or giving up hope of completing the Ironman. Support from my friends and club members poured in daily. A gracious man by the name of Kevin Purcell, a well respected triathlete and coach offered to give me a training plan and told me this could be done and onward I pressed.

In late July (ahead of schedule) I was fitted with a splint on my right hand and given the o.k. to try and bike outdoors. Excited I raced home, filled up my water bottles, pulled on my biking clothes only to figure out I couldn't change gears, brake or fill up my tires. At that point, I accepted the fact that going to the Ironman as a participant wasn't going to happen. I wrote all my friends and family and told them I was out. Later that evening I told my wife "I quit", I'm not going. A two time Ironman herself, she tried to get me to re engage. Personally I think she was fearful of living with me if I wasn't training. I went into my computer room, obtained the information on withdrawing from the race, signed the withdrawal and placed it on the front seat of my truck to be faxed the next day. About two hours later I walked into my bathroom and my ten-year-old son had placed a note on my bathroom mirror. The note read…. Never Ever Quit. I was floored. I realized that my actions had a huge impact on my children and never had I wanted them to view their father as a quitter so I thought I would give this another chance. Immediately, Guy and another close friend Kevin "Strawman" Reinsch offered to ride with me. A few 40 and 60 mile rides later and I began to think the Ironman was possible again. So off I went on my journey to get to Madison. I began swimming again four weeks before the race and did my long runs. My Dr. told me I could do the race if I wore a special splint for the swim and another for the bike. My rear brake was moved to the left side and I switched gears with my left hand.

Race Week: I elected to drive out to Wisconsin with a fellow competitor from the area. As the race approached I became more nervous. What the hell was I doing here? The day before the race, we went out for a 30-minute ride. Four minutes into the ride, my rear tubular tire blew!! Since I didn't have the strength to push off the tire I walked back to the race site and had the folks from Inside/Out Sports glue on another tire. Then I worried for the rest of the day. That night I think I got about 4 hours sleep and awoke at 2 a.m. I felt like throwing up.

When the start cannon went off I sat back and watched people go. I had promised my wife I wouldn't get caught up in the masses and when my watch hit one minute I started swimming. I was the very last person to cross the start line. I swam wide and the swim was uneventful. My swim time was 1 minute slower than 2002, a good start.

As I ran up the ramp to head to T1, I saw my brother who had come out to watch me do the race. I ran over, gave him a hug and away I went. The first 65 miles of the bike were uneventful. Around mile 70 I began to feel the heat. I had made sure that I was drinking plenty of fluids and taking my Perpetum every 15 minutes. I wasn't sweating and I wasn't going to the bathroom and this began to worry me. Around mile 80, my toes began to burn on both feet. At this point I turn into survival mode and spun easily towards the finish. At mile 100, the pain in my feet was so bad; I thought my toes were broken. I told myself, I would get to the finish of the bike and call it a day. After all, I wasn't supposed to be here and making it this far was an accomplishment. Then I remembered, Never Ever Quit. So I pressed on and told myself I would walk the entire marathon if need be. As I began the run, I saw my brother. Tears came to my eyes, my feet hurt so bad. I asked him to call my wife and tell her to settle in because it would be a long evening.

I decided to start running and to my surprise my toes stopped hurting. I found myself getting from aid to station to aid station with little effort. At mile 5, I saw my brother again. He later told me that I came back from the dead in those 5 miles. The heat and humidity were starting to take their tolls on the other competitors. Throughout the entire run I heard ambulances screaming through the city to pick up competitors. Several times, I heard volunteers on walkie-talkies calling for flight for life. At mile 22, the person who I was running with briefly pulled up and just went and laid on the side of the road. People were dropping like flies I later found out that over 300 people DNF'd!!!!

As I approached downtown Madison and the capital building came into view I knew for the first time that the Ironman finish was in my grasp. I picked up the pace and soaked in the huge crowd. I hit the red carpet in full stride, raised my arms (splint and all) and crossed the finish line a three-time Ironman finisher. My time of 12:32 minutes was only 26 minutes slower than the previous year but placed me 467 over all out of 1800 people who started the race.

After a few calls home to speak to my wife, daughter and son, I showered and headed to the bar for a "brewski". I headed out to watch the final finishers come in and after the race ended sat around the hotel lobby with other competitors until about 1:30 a.m. to recap the days events.

I've always said the Ironman defines who you are as a person. This journey defined who I am but showed me that a triathlon community that cares and a supportive and loving family surround me.