Soldier discovers love of triathlons

NAVAL BASE VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - Growing up in the lakefront city of Milwaukee, Christyn Gaa could shoot hoops, dribble a soccer ball and hit softballs.

Years later, while studying nursing at Marquette University, she even joined an intramural basketball squad.

"Team sports was really kind of all that I knew," said Gaa, now a major and nurse practitioner at Fort Bliss, Texas. Gaa recently finished third in the women's masters division at the 2024 Armed Forces Triathlon Championship on June 29.

Even after commissioning into the Army following her graduation from Marquette, she had always been part of a larger team as an Army nurse and clinical nurse officer.

Then, after watching a triathlon after arriving at her first duty station, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, she decided to give the sport a try. The multi-event sport offered her the solace of individual training, a contrast to her upbringing.

So in the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, she began training for the triathlon. She started by running and biking a few miles and swimming a few meters each week before gradually building her endurance.

"I was kind of immediately hooked," she said. "I'd gotten a road bike after I graduated college, between that and my first assignment in the Army, I just started riding and really enjoyed that. I think I just liked the challenge of doing the multi sports, and then just kind of fell in love with the training for doing it all."

Learning to train for the triathlon also helped Gaa chart her career goals, she said. After completing assignments working in the emergency care in Mosul, Iraq and as a critical care nurse at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, she served as a bridge nurse for U.S. Army Cadet Command. Then the University of Maryland-Baltimore accepted Gaa into its medical graduate program where she earned her doctorate of Nursing Practice degree.

"[Competing in the triathlon] has mentally made me stronger and more resilient," Gaa said. "Like to take on harder tasks and doing things that are uncomfortable … having habits like having some consistency in the way that you do things really helps to achieve your goals."

After seeing her potential in the sport, Gaa hired a training coach while attending graduate school, With her coach's guidance, Gaa began a more strenuous workout regimen.

Gaa initially struggles with the running leg of the triathlon. But she learned to balance her efforts with the bike race to have better endurance for the run. Then the Wisconsin native began placing in the Top 10 for her age group while also learning to pace her swim better.

Now, 16 years later with 40 races across triathlon Ironman, half Ironman and Olympic distances, she set larger goals.

While stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, she qualified for the Hawaii triathlon state championship. And, she achieved a dream she had years ago: she earned a spot at the famous Ironman World Triathlon Championships in Kailua-Kona.

Hosted by the World Triathlon Corporation on the big island of Hawaii, competitors from across the globe compete by swimming in Kailua Bay and running and riding on the island's challenging landscape.

"When I first started triathlon, I thought, 'oh my god, like competing at Kona one day would be incredible,'" Gaa said. "And then … I qualified for Kona, that's not something I would have ever thought would happen. But I think every little goal that I've set, I've been able to reach, and I think it's just because of the process that you go through and the journey that you take to get through it."

In 2022, Gaa suffered a lower-leg injury on her left side, limiting her performance at the 2022 nationals. She had to adjust and limit her training. She finished fourth among 36 competitors in her age group.

"When you kind of do this as an athlete, it kind of becomes a piece of your identity," Gaa said.

Gaa learned to adapt her training while battling the ailment, working on her swimming or bike riding when she couldn't run.

Gaa, however, would bounce back.

Before she left for her current assignment as the 745th Forward Resuscitative and Surgical Detachment commander at Fort Bliss, Texas, she competed in her first Armed Forces Triathlon Championship, representing the All-Army Triathlon team and finishing first in the women's masters division in April 2023.

At her second Armed Forces Triathlon last month, Gaa finished third in the Women's masters behind Air Force Maj. Esther Willet and Marine Corps Col. Christine Hauser. Gaa clocked in at 2:28:13. Gaa said before the race she expected the field to be tougher, as some of this year's masters competitors competed at the elite level last year and have aged into the women's runners, which consists of competitors 35 and older. Gaa said that she wants to continue to represent the Army in the triathlon and eventually qualify as an All-American in the sport. She also wants to medal at the national level in her age group.

"I think I'm always trying to just get a little bit better every day and be better than who I was yesterday," Gaa said. "Not necessarily be better than other people, but if there's a standard, I always want to exceed it."

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