It’s been a week since I completed Ironman Chattanooga and I wanted to take the time to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for their well wishes before the race and many congrats after! It’s meant SO much to me have a lot of “digging out” this week from all the reach-outs – thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart🧡

This Ironman was dedicated to my mom in heaven, Debbi, who passed away 25 years ago at the age of 46. Early on this year when I turned 46, I decided to try and live every day with even more intention and gratitude in honor of my mom, Debbi, who never got to live past that age. My mom was always the hardest worker, the life of the party, and the most selfless human It’s not lost on me that I am lucky to get to train and race for something as intensive as an Ironman and I don’t take the time that I’ve been given to do that for granted. Especially on this reflective year.

I could not have gotten to the start line (and finish line) of my fourth Ironman without my rock, my love, my super hubs and coach, Joe LoPresto ❤️ Joe supported me endlessly as a spouse and a coach as he always so thoughtfully does We had a great year with some big goals that kept pushing me and helped me to continue to improve as an athlete (and as a person and coach). In my 23 years of running, this has been my strongest, fastest, and most durable year of running yet! How awesome of a feeling it is to be getting a “bit more seasoned in age” but continuing to improve far above my “young buck years!” I couldn’t have achieved any of these goals without his careful planning, support, and decades of experience as an incredibly inspiring coach who has changed and impacted hundreds upon hundreds of lives. I admire and respect him more than he’ll ever know As a husband and partner, I couldn’t get through any day without him by my side He keeps me afloat, he reminds me where I left my head , he endlessly supports me, and he fills my heart with love and happiness beyond measure.

One of the reasons I chose to do Ironman Chattanooga is because it is a special place for our dear friends and superstar volunteers – Chris Haaff and Rebekah Gilman. They both serve as captains of different volunteer positions for this race and it is in Rebekah’s hometown, so I wanted to come do a race that is special to them since they are so special to me They of course were absolutely incredible to all the athletes, but the way they looked out for me as a friend and took care of me before, during, and after the race made all the difference

One of the biggest surprises I’ve ever had probably in my entire life took place the day before the race when my friends and teammates, Tom Arra and Eleanor Evins, showed up in transition as I was checking my bike in and getting it racked! They selflessly flew all the way from Chicago to SURPRISE me in Chattanooga to come cheer me on for the race! My reaction of shock and then sobbing with gratitude tells the whole story It meant the world to me that they did that and their cheering, support, and presence on race day made it even more meaningful This was another amazing reminder of the incredible community that Joe has created in Experience Triathlon – to be part of the #ETfam is one of my greatest blessings

Ironman Chattanooga 2026 proved to be a beautifully challenging event and course! I loved it- even though she was certainly a tough one out there at times! As a coach, we always talk to our athletes about “expecting the unexpected,” about assuming that at some point that “sh*t is going to hit the fan” and being prepared that there are uncontrollables that will happen and accepting ahead of time that they are out of our control. The best we can do as athletes is know that they will present themselves at some point and when they do, to try to adjust and “flow” through them as best as we can.

I think the universe determined that maybe I needed a “friendly reminder” to continue to “practice what I preach” to my athletes on my Ironman Chattanooga day! It seemed like right from the swim I was getting tested to see if I truly do “practice what I preach” as a coach and the bike and run also presented themselves with those character-building moments as well! I kept telling myself, “these are just blips, do what you can and move on!”

Leading up to the event I was following along in the IM Chattanooga forum and one of the head people in charge posted about how athlete check-in would work. In this post he wrote “Semper Gumbi” (Always Flexible)! I thought that was an adorable way to think about how Joe and I always try to live and how we teach our athletes the importance of having the ability to “flow.” (I have certainly learned this from him, and it is now one of my greatest strengths). It was an imperative strength that got me through this race during multiple opportunities to “flex and flow.”

I kept saying to myself, “Semper Gumbi!”

I am always nervous when I step up to an Ironman swim start. Luckily I had friend and #ETfam member, David Snow, there with me on the bus to the swim start and on the dock before we both started our Ironman day! His calming presence really helped calm my nerves I truly enjoyed my first Ironman river swim experience – even though this would be prove to be my first “blip” of the day! Jumping off the dock was fun and things as expected really spread out (there was really no bumping, maybe an occasional “brush by” here and there). Soon into the swim I could feel my swim cap sliding back a bit. I dealt with my swim cap getting pushed off my head completely at Ironman Florida with the big waves, so I had my goggles over the swim cap for this race (which is the way I prefer to swim and race). I did wash my hair that morning but I made the decision not to use any conditioner because I was worried about any swim cap issues – please remind me at my next Ironman (god-willing) NOT to wash my hair the morning of the race, I don’t care how grungy it is, y’all will just have to deal! ) I tried to just keep swimming with it sliding off knowing that my goggle strap would hold it on, but after a while my goggles started to become loose so I had to stop several times to try and fix the swim cap. It actually came almost entirely off of my head, had filled with a pocket of water, and was pulling my goggle strap down with it! I tried to fix it while swimming, stopped facing the current, stopped facing away from the current, on my back, under the water – I basically tried every scenario but could not get it back on fully. (Big shout-out to the two separate female Ironman athletes that saw me stopped and asked if I was ok ) My next plan was “F it, maybe I can just swim without it!” So I got it the swim cap off my head and stuffed it inside the neck of my wetsuit. Once I started swimming like that my goggles started heavily leaking – I realized the strap was now too big because it was set to hold the mop of ponytail that typically sits on the back of my head but had fallen out w/out the swim cap to hold it in place. I had been contemplating stopping at a kayak for quite a while as I was not quite halfway through the 2.4 mile swim yet when all this truly escalated. Once the goggles wouldn’t stay on and I had bailed on the swim cap I made the decision to swim over to a wonderful volunteer sitting on a SUP board – Jason (who did one of his degrees at UIC ) to try and get it all resituated! I assured him that my swimming was going great but I needed to find a way to get everything back on and re-set. He was incredibly friendly and helpful! I tried to get my upper body up on the side of the SUP so that I could get my head completely out of the water and have both hands to manage the hair and the swim cap. I got one elbow up on it but it wasn’t enough. It spun him sideways so he asked if he could reposition the SUP so he could “hold the line” and then I swam over to the other side and finally was able to get my entire upper body up out of the water. I got the swim cap mostly back on, squeezed some hair back into the back of it, and put the goggles back on. The goggles were still too loose so I had to figure out how to adjust them (I usually have Joe fix this for me so this is something I obviously need to PRACTICE for the next race just incase the💩 starts hitting the fan during the swim again!) I made an adjustment on the goggles and hoped I made them tighter and not more loose I got them on and they seemed ok so I told Jason “OK, I think I’m ok now! I’m gonna give this a shot!” I thanked him profusely and he reassured me that the second half of the swim would at least seem faster! He asked me for my number (I assumed bib number and not phone number – I’m taken! LOL! ) The swim cap and goggles stayed on for the second half of the swim and boy was I happy to see the final red turn buoy in the distance! I made a B-line for that thing and a b-line to the swim-exit stairs. An awesomely strong female volunteer took my arm and yanked me up out of the water! It took a bit to find my “sea legs” on the steps but once I was out on dry land it was the typical “run to Transition 1 like I just won an Olympic swimming event with my hands held up with the “rock-on” sign and my tongue hanging out!

As I got out of the water I heard Tom yell “1:04:00, great job!!!” Wow, was I really excited to hear that it was still a really good time for me (thank you river-current gods ) even with all the swim-cap/goggle “adventures” I had out there!

In T1 my sweet volunteer, Darlene, helped me with something I was about to forget to grab (my brain fog doesn’t allow me to remember exactly) but I know she saved me! I gave her one of my volunteer appreciation bracelets and was on my way! It took a ways to get to my bike in transition but the “bike shoe clomp” didn’t feel too bad. I knew that Joe and crew would be somewhere at the bike out. When I saw them I pulled over, gave Joe a quick peck, and he reminded me “not to go out too quick” and I was on my merry way! I LOVE to bike! The first 9 mile “crit type course” proved to be slow going for all of us (lots of turns, not great pavement, railroad tracks, etc.) Once we got onto the highway it all moved faster and more normal.

The main bike course was laid out as a 33-mile loop on the highway that you repeat 3 times. Somewhere around mile 11 of 112 my front shifter stopped working (Hellen – my bike – is equipped with “god’s greatest gift of electronic shifting” – that is, when it is all working! ). I tried shifting to the small ring up front in each gear combo from the back, shifted from the aero bars, and the headset and it was just dead. I know my battery was fully charged and it takes a long time to wear down through use and then gives you a “low battery” signal that I typically ignore for quite a while until it completely dies (just like the E on my gas tank! ). This was not that scenario. Good news is, I know that I can climb pretty well in my big ring and cross-chained in the back (this is not a practice I promote or advise, Joe had me working this season to try and not do that as much so I knew that I could do it if necessary because that is where I typically incorrectly gravitate! ). I kept the scenario as a positive the whole time and just kept telling myself, “at least I’m not stuck in the small ring…girl needs her power on the flats and the downhills! ”

I did have a spare battery for the shifter in my bike bag, but again, I did not think it was a battery issue. My method of adapting and flowing through this “blip” was to do one full loop of the 3x loop and see how it went and what was truly needed with the shifting to see if I had to stop and try to fix it. At the top of the first loop turn around I saw Joe, Tom, and Eleanor, and Joe asked me how it was going and I said “great, but I have no front shifting” as I whizzed past him and started the next climb. Joe and Tom obviously were trying to deduce what was wrong and how they were going to try and fix it the next time I came around (which I appreciate of course!). I took my first aid station stop at mile 56 and refilled all three water bottles with volunteer “Bartender Brad’s” help! (I was glad to have all three bottles because it was getting WARM out there in full sun/no shade highway and I was thirsty AF!) I also stopped at the bathroom so that was almost a 10 min stop (I was hoping that would be my only one of the ride). When I came around for the second loop upper-turn around my peeps told me I could pull over and they could try and fix the shifting issue, but I knew I could get through the majority of the ride without it and I didn’t want to stop again after just being off of my bike for almost 10 mins. I let them know that I didn’t need it to get through the ride and continued on to finish loop 2.

For what was supposed to be a relatively calm day wind-wise there ended up being some significant head, cross, and tailwinds out there (each direction seemed to have all the options to me!) I didn’t love riding next to an open lane of highway traffic, some did not slow down – semi-trucks I am talking to you! There was some potential unstable crosswind moments in aero with those guys whizzing by but I stayed upright. Not many spectators out on the bike course (typical for highway riding) so anytime there were a few I of course engaged with them with a fist pump and a “woooo!!!”

The bike course was rolling, the mountains were pretty, but there were really no turns or change of scenery for 99 miles so that is mentally challenging for sure. Add the heat, open lane of car traffic, and wind situation and it was a “doozy.” I think I did well keeping the power numbers in check even being stuck in the big ring for most of the ride – but that will be shown in the data that I am sure my coach will carefully study!

When I came off of the bike I got to see the crew again and was amped to be off of the bike! I had another sweet volunteer, Linda, in T2! She said it was her first time volunteering and I thanked her profusely for all her help! On the way out of T2 and onto the run Joe let me know how I was doing – I had a pretty solid ride and he determined that there was still potential room to move up if I could put together my typical run efforts and hang in. I of course was wanting to do well in my age group, but it was always a loose goal down the list of goals for the day, so while I was excited to hear that there was maybe a possibility to still move up a bit, I still stuck to the main goals for the day – give my all and do the best that I could on that given day. I was going to run smart, adapt for the heat and the hills, take some extra time to ice down my hat and my bra at each aid station, and try to have enough left in the gas tank to run stronger once the sun started going down and the temps started to drop a bit.

My biggest goal for the run was to finally stay on top of my run nutrition! (That is one thing in my previous three Ironman races that I still didn’t solve, it got a bit better last year at Wisconsin, but I still had a mile or two where my energy dropped during that run because of lack of carb intake on the second half of the run). I can say that through mile 24 of the run I was on it! I took every gel I planned to take, strategically and methodically stayed on the salt pills, and drank water at every aid station! That was a big win!

The run ended up being the biggest “blip” of the day but I absolutely pushed through every way I could without letting it stop me or change my positive attitude! The volunteers at the aid stations of the run course (especially the amazing kids) were absolutely incredible and definitely helped keep the energy up on the run! (Literally the best volunteers I’ve ever had! ) I adapted my pace at the beginning of the run to account for the heat and the hills so that I could potentially have the ability to run a bit stronger once the sun started to go down a bit and the temps started to drop. This plan worked, but the “expect sh*t to happen” plan presented itself too…literally!!! Several porta stops were had, the one around mile 14 took more time than I wanted, but I felt SO much better after that stop and was able to put together probably my strongest running of the day from miles 15-23. This was a GREAT feeling and was a testament to FINALLY staying on my gels for the entire run! I was feeling really good even in the toughest and hilliest part of the course out by miles 20-23!

Mile 23 proved to be the most difficult challenge of the day when I suddenly had very severe GI distress. (This is where you as the reader can use your imagination or continue reading at your own risk! ) Without warning I basically lost all control of my GI tract and what ensued was a lot of hot and burning💩 that decided to come through in a big way in my tri suit on the hilliest, darkest, toughest part of the course without a porta in sight in what felt for miles (it was a little over a mile). I can’t describe just how painful it was, it was very hard to keep moving. Let alone how horrifying it was! (I have 💩myself before on long runs – it’s the “glory” of being a distance runner but this was on a level I had never experienced). I think the HOT SHOT that I took for cramping before the swim that morning made her way through and the “hot pepper spices” that they use in that – well, when that came out in my tri suit it literally burned my bum “and then some.” I finally made it to the portas (there were two and the first porta was without any TP!) I praised god for the quarter of a roll that was left in the second porta! I had to spend a long time in there trying to clean up with a quarter roll of .25 ply porta potty TP – it was literally a hot mess! Afterwards I shuffled through the rest of the hills (still in pain, but never started walking), still cheered on all the runners who were just starting to make their uphill trek on Barton as I was gently shuffling down, and tried to just stay focused and thankful that in less than 2 miles I was going to get to cross another Ironman finish line!

It took all the shuffling to keep it from happening again, so I didn’t have that typical “last two-mile fire” physically, but the fire in my head and mind was BLAZING! I was so damn proud of everything I went through that day and the way I literally just flowed right through one thing to the next. I gave EVERYTHING I could possibly give on that given day and my mental strength was taken to a whole new level with the ability to just adapt, flex, and flow while still racing with joy, gratitude, and fire at all times! (Even when my a** and undercarriage had literally been burned and I could barely move my legs!)

I approached the finish line with tears of pride in my eyes. I saw “Mr. Orange and Sharky” (Chris and Rebekah) as I got close to the finish chute and they hugged me and both said how proud of me they were Anytime anyone says that to me it feels like my mom is trying to communicate from heaven and it always brings me to happy tears. That moment felt like she was checking in with me at the end of the race (Remember, I was racing this one in honor of her ) I entered the finish chute with uncontrollable tears of pride and gratitude and had to pull myself together so I could do the typical “Christa gets pumped and pumps up all the spectators up” on my way down to the finish! Seeing the lights of that elevated finish line was amazing and I knew I was about to finish another life-changing day I took time to stop up on top of the elevated finish line, blow a kiss to my mom in Heaven to “thank her” for making me the warrior that I am today, and soaked it all in for a second The trials, the growth, the joy, the pain, the fear, the excitement and all the emotions in between are my “why”. They keep me thankful for the journey, humbled as a person, and give me the opportunity to continue to grow

SEMPER GUMBI!