Marathon Masochist

Chris Lowry is the Marathon Masochist from Orlando (FL). He has a blog called Marathonmasochist.com, which deals with running for fitness and health. In 2012, he is running 12 5K races, 12 Half marathon's and 12 marathons, in addition to publishing 12 fiction books. We have conducted a short interview with him:

Do you have a marathon training plan? What is your motivation for the runs?

It’s a little funny how I got started. I was going through my MBA program which was online, so a group of us would meet in a pub for a few pitchers during class.

In August 2010, we were sharing our bucket lists and a few pitchers in I boasted that I wanted to run a marathon by 40. Trouble was, I was a few months past my 40th birthday. So I went home that night, signed up for the Disney marathon in January and started running.

At first, I couldn’t even run a mile. But I marked off a mile from my house, ran as far as I could, then walked the rest. I ran every day, and pushed just a little farther each time. When I could run a mile out and a mile back without stopping I went full tilt and ran 5. I started running in 5K’s, and won my age group. I stopped drinking so much, and lost about 30lbs just from running more and eating less.

In January, I ran my first marathon. 26.2 miles around DisneyWorld, and it really was magic. There’s just so much support, so many cheering fans, lots of water and distractions. I finished at just over 4 hours. It was tough! But I collected my medal, my picture, my after run snacks and went in to work that day. I limped like someone out of the walking dead. But I kept at it.

I signed up for a 30 mile ultramarathon to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which raises money for children of fallen Special Ops members. It was on the sand in Destin Fl, and it was a killer. This one had support at the beginning, middle and end, but in between was nothing but surf, sand and sun. But I was hooked. And working with and for the men and women who’ve sacrificed for our country is still an amazing part of why I run.

I run for a variety of reasons, for charity, for fitness, because I discovered I was kind of good at it, but most of all, I run until I hurt so I don’t miss my kids. I’m divorced, a dad who can’t spend as much time with my children as I want, and instead of feeling sorry for myself on the nights when I want to read them a bedtime story, I strap on my shoes, turn on my music and go. Some nights I don’t stop. That’s how I got better at it, and set my sights on 100 mile races and training for them.

How many marathons have you run? Which is the most challenging and memorable?

I’ve completed 1 ultramarathon, 4 marathons, 12 Half Marathon’s and almost 40 5K races in just over 2 years. My New Year’s Resolution way back in January of 2012 was to finish 12 Marathon’s, 12 Half’s, and 12 5K’s in 2012. I’ve knocked out all of the 5K’s, 6 of the Half’s and 2 marathons, and over the next 10 weeks, I’ll be running every weekend to make my goal. Some weekends I have a Half on Saturday, and a Full Marathon on Sunday. My saving grace has been virtual races, where you can sign up for the races, and participate from afar. Florida stops racing long distance when it gets hot, and they don’t pick up again until October when it cools off. I keep my race calendar on my blog, marathonmasochist.com, and am adding a virtual race calendar for anyone who wants to start running too.

What inspires you to writing and what are your goals?

One of my other goals for 2012 was to publish 12 novels. I’ve been writing since I was a teen, did some work as a freelance journalist, ghostwriter and screenwriter. I kept waiting for someone to “discover” me, and finally got tired of waiting. Granted, I got an MBA and worked up to a corporate exec spot too, so writing was something I just did. But I looked at my manuscripts, hired an editor to polish them up and get them ready to go. I’ve got two science fiction books up on Amazon now, with a spy thriller series popping soon, as well as two non-fiction books, one on Leadership, and the other a Guide to Running for Fitness. You can find me by name on Amazon, or follow the link from the blog site.

2012 was a huge year for knocking Goals off my life list. I travelled every month, got a promotion at work, checked off races, and publishing, and even helped friends with their goals. I set big audacious hairy goals for 2013 too and can’t wait to get at them. I’d like to help people learn how to set and reach every single goal in their life, not just for the feeling of accomplishment, but because I think people are capable of so much more than they think. After all, 2 years ago, I didn’t have an MBA, was an aspiring author and just talked about running a little. Yet today, I’m an MBA, ultra-running, ultra-writing corporate executive who is only missing one thing in his life. And that’s a 2013 goal!

Anyone who has questions about running, writing or setting awesome goals should visit www.marathonmasochist.com and send to me. I’ll answer them all.