Born to Run

The minute you see Caroline Draper, it is clear that she is an athlete.  When she arrives at the coffee shop where we planned to meet for our interview, she is wearing a pair of black sweatpants paired with a grey WCC sweatshirt.  Her curly blonde hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck, and her bright pink Adidas racing flats complete her outfit.

Caroline is a member of the cross country and track teams at Loyola Marymount University and her life is far from ordinary.  Caroline runs more miles a week than many people drive.  The typical college girl counts carbs.  Caroline carb loads.  And while most college kids are nursing a hangover Sunday morning, she is out at the break of dawn for her weekly long run.

Even at the age of six, it was clear that Caroline had a knack for running.  In first and second grade, her elementary school held a lap competition to get the students active.  The kid who ran the most miles by the end of the year would receive a trophy and (perhaps more importantly) bragging rights.  While seven-year-olds dread running the thought of running a mere mile, Caroline’s daily lunchtime runs were the highlight of her day.

“I would show up to school every day in running shorts and my best friend and I would always try to eat our lunch as quickly as possible so we could go run laps.  All the boys would want to race against us and we would always beat them,” says Caroline with a big smile on her face.  “And then in second grade, I ended up running 250 miles—more than anyone else in my school—and I got a huge trophy.”

And so Caroline’s running career began.  She went on to run cross country and track at the middle school, high school, and college levels.  Her older sister, Ahnie, was also a runner and by the time Caroline entered high school, running had become part of the Draper family’s everyday life.  Caroline attributes much of her success to having such a supportive family.

Caroline and her family after a cross country race in Oregon her senior year of college

“Ahnie was there to always be my running partner, which was awesome.  We’d go on family vacations and my sister and I would have to get up early to get our runs in.  It makes it so much easier when you have someone to constantly train with and motivate you,” says Caroline. “And when Ahnie went to run for LMU, my mom and my dad would ride the bike alongside me during my runs.  Sometimes they’d even drive the car and meet me every mile to check in on me and give me water.  It was great to have so much support.”

In high school, Caroline proved to be one of the fastest female runners in San Diego.  She was recruited by the University of Southern California, the University of Arizona, and Loyola Marymount University.  She was convinced that she would go to a “big” university, but ended up committing to LMU, following in the footprints of her older sister.  She explained that because Ahnie ran for LMU, she got to come visit her sister several times throughout her college career.  This allowed Caroline to “see an entirely different side of the university,” which solidified her decision that it was the right school for her.

Ahnie and Caroline after a race Caroline's freshman year of college

Caroline has now run four years for LMU and is currently in her final track season before she graduates in May.  Running is a sport with a high burnout and injury rate because of the toll that it takes not only on the body but also on the mind.  This past cross country season, she ran a 21:10 6k (for anyone who’s wondering that’s a 5:40 mile pace for 3.72 miles) and successfully achieved her goal of being one of the top three female runners on her team.  But being a college runner is not easy.

“I have a love/hate relationship with running.  It’s tough because I expect a lot from myself, and so there’s the mental pressure to perform well for my team and for myself.  But I do love being competitive, and that’s what keeps me motivated.”

Caroline and her teammates before a cross country race her junior year

Caroline’s biggest setback came in her sophomore year during cross country season.  She had come out of her freshman year feeling strong and ready to take on the role of a leader on the team.  After training hard all summer to reach her goals, she injured herself and was unable to perform.  In one of her first meets, she says she “absolutely tanked” and came in 10th on the team (four spots lower than when she was a freshman).

“I sort of closed off because I was so disappointed with myself.  I didn’t get to travel to the big meets with the team, which I did my freshman year so I felt like I had regressed,” recalls Caroline.  “On top of all of that, the trainers at school didn’t know what was causing the pain in my foot, which made it even more frustrating.  It was just a really negative semester.”

After the season ended, Caroline went back to San Diego and met with the physical therapist who had treated her throughout high school.  He diagnosed her with posterior tibialis tendonitis and advised her to get custom orthotics for her running shoes.  She then went through a long, tedious process to break them in.  She began walking in them, then running ten minutes at a time, and now does all of her runs in them.  Caroline says they completely changed her feet and took away her pain.

“It was definitely a rough season, but it really lit my fire for track.  I decided I didn’t like the position that I was in and it was a bummer to experience that, but it made me super motivated for track to come around.  That track season I literally [set a personal record] in every race that I ran.”

Caroline and her sister Ahnie after a track meet sophomore year

Though running competitively in college can be hard on the body and on the mind, Caroline says that she couldn’t imagine college without it.  Running ignited her competitive spirit, kept her in shape, led her to meet some of her best friends (and boyfriend), taught her to manage her time, and gave her some of the best memories of her college career.  Caroline jokes that after graduating, she is going to going to stop running completely and retire.  But in reality, she knows that after taking a month off, the competitor in her will drive her to run again.

Caroline and her boyfriend/teammate Sterling after a run in Mammoth

“It’s been a long four years and I’ve sacrificed a lot of free time.  You know, tonight’s a Friday night and most people will be going out, but I have to get to bed early for my race tomorrow,” says Caroline.  “It definitely wears on you, but there’s so much I love about running that I just don’t feel right when I’m not doing it.  My body doesn’t always love it, but I guess it doesn’t hate it enough to make me stop.”


And...for your viewing pleasure, a video of Caroline cooling down after her race this past weekend:

I bet hearing about Caroline really made you wish you were a runner.  Well, if you're looking to get into running here are some of Caroline’s running tips:

1. Set goals.  Running is a goal-oriented sport and setting small goals for yourself will help you to stay motivated and recognize your successes.
2. Make a good playlist.  Music is a great motivator.  If you’re a beginner, tell yourself to run until the end of a song.  If you’re a little bit more advanced, make a 40-minute playlist and run until it’s done.
3. Build slowly but don’t be afraid to test your limits.  Guaranteed that you’ll be able to run further than you think.  Running is uncomfortable, but the more you do it, the easier it will get.  Your body will adapt and get stronger.
4. Go somewhere cool to run.  The prettier the scenery, the more rewarding the run will be.