Ciara Miles is a junior at Kennesaw State and a runner on the women's cross country and track and field teams.

Miles started her cross-country career during her sophomore year in high school after being told she could not run track without running cross country and from this found a new love for it.

The way she runs cross country has changed over the years from high school to college, and she eventually began to love it over track and field. She is ready to run every day, looks forward to it and enjoys it.

Miles started running later than most people and she was one of the slower runners on the varsity team in high school.

She remembers seeing other girls run faster, even on her team. She remembers feeling like they were on a level that she would never reach.

"Fast forward to now, obviously, I have surpassed that high school level. I think about girls going to nationals or running sub-16 minute 5ks and sometimes I catch myself thinking I won't get to that level," said Miles. "I remind myself that they're just like those girls from high school that I thought I would never reach. They are just farther down the path. It's coming."

Her race strategy has changed over time. Miles used to think of running as if time was everything. She wanted to know every split for her mile and she could not race without a watch. Her high school coach ingrained that in her, but KSU head coach Adam Bray has flipped that mentality. She no longer races with a watch. Miles said, "You've just got to feel the pace and feel where you are."

Miles chose to run at KSU because of Coach Bray and a former runner, Sarah Hendrick, reminded Miles of herself and who she wanted to be. She described Hendrick as being the underdog that no one saw coming and wants to be the person that comes out from the radar. She also added that KSU is "just a great team."

Miles knew she wanted to run on the collegiate level during the winter of her junior year in high school. She decided to run indoor track. However, due to the pandemic, she only ran in one meet for the next outdoor season, but at this race, she broke a school record.

Miles told herself after that race, "This is what I need to do. I love running and I'm doing this in college."

Miles has had a very successful career but she has encountered many setbacks along her journey. Injuries are a huge part of her story. She had problems with injuries during her freshman year. Those continued and took her out of conference and regionals. She had never been injured in high school and she wasn't quite sure why these injuries seemingly came out of nowhere in college.

"It was really hard mentally. It just felt like this endless cycle. Not run for a few days, feel better, start running again and it just comes back, over and over," Miles said.

She tried rehab, dry-needling and seeing a chiropractor. After the fourth time being injured, she saw a pattern that the best solution was the one she did not want to hear: which was not running and just resting. In response, she said, "No runner wants to hear that."

At one point she almost quit running because she felt like the injuries were never-ending.

Cross-training is what helped Miles make a comeback. "Seeing my teammates race and daily talking with Coach Bray is definitely what got me through it as well," she said.

In this 2023 season, she went about running with a different strategy that she believes saved her.

"Coach Bray has led me through it, but quality over quantity. I used to run 55-60 miles a week and I didn't take a day off, and now I have bumped that to 40-45. I cross-train once a week and take another day off," she said. "That's the main thing that's helped me have zero injuries or problems. I am also running the fastest I ever have this season."

Miles has also been taking rehab and working on muscles that normally would get overlooked.

Miles participated in U20s which are US National Championships for anyone under 20 years old. When she participated in these, she was 19 and just getting over her first injury. She got a call from Coach Bray saying that her time from a 3k race had qualified her.

"It was an amazing experience getting to race in Eugene and feel the feeling of racing on a national stage. Hopefully, it's a preview for the future," she said.

For the 2023 season, Miles is relieved she had not endured an injury. She also ran faster in the 5ks and 6ks than she ever has before. She said that she was nervous at first because she was not sure if the low-mileage strategy would be enough to keep her going, but stressed that she feels stronger than ever.

The continuous breaking of barriers she did not know she was capable of is what motivates Miles the most. She loves to set higher and higher goals for herself. She also added, "I run for my family and my coach making them proud and to support the team. I am a team player and I want to be the person that I want to be teammates with."

Miles also said, "Coach Bray is an amazing coach. He is so unique because he is involved in every person on the team individually. He is so knowledgeable about cross country. He is the best about motivating for races and workouts. I love him as a coach."

Miles and her teammates are super close and she loves that there is a variety of freshmen and upperclassmen. She claims the age gaps make the team closer and allow them to grow together.

Miles was named 2023 Women's Academic All-ASUN Team for cross country and is majoring in hospitality. She does not overdo her schedule but still takes a handful of hard classes. She dedicates a block of time on her off days to study and do academic work.

When asked what she wanted Owl Nation to know about her she responded, "I love running as a sport but I love the feeling of running even more. I hope everyone out there can experience a runner's high at least once if not more."