Zombies, Run!

There’s an app born from Kickstarter that takes running (and apps) to a new level of fun.  I used to spend way too much time clicking on icons of buildings or animals to collect fake money to buy new buildings and animals.  Now, I get to physically run to earn fake supplies to build my zombie-safehaven camp.  If you’ve ever wondered would it be like to be in some epic movie or epic adventure, you can use Zombies, Run! to immerse yourself in another world.

When you download the app, you get a series of missions to play through.  You plug in your headphones and start running.  Interspersed between the songs on your playlist are clips that take you through the storyline.  You earn virtual supplies as you run, and at random intervals, zombies are detected, forcing you to choose between running 20% faster for a minute or losing some supplies in the brush-up with the zombies.  The plot lines are interesting, and at the end, once you’ve run for the specified duration and gotten through the plot, you get to spend your supplies on building up your camp.

This is the first app that I’ve ever purchased, and it has been worth it.  You don’t think twice about spending $XX for a race or some equipment.  Compared to that, the price is small, and you get hours and hours of enjoyment.   You do have the option to buy additional missions, although I’m only at the start of the first season at the moment.

This app has made me want to go outside to run even more.  The app does have some treadmill options that I haven’t explored yet, but I’d rather experience the missions outside.  Unfortunately, I only get daylight during the weekends.

Here are my workouts since purchasing the app:

Dec 27: Morning run of 6.6mi on mixed surfaces (8:16/mi).  Ran immediately after eating pumpernickel bread with hummus, plus green tea, because I was too hungry to go fasted.  Felt good and pushed the pace a bit, but I feel like I don’t have the endurance that I used to have.  Held the iPhone in my hand the whole way, since I didn’t bring my Nathan Spibelt to Charleston.

Dec 28: Out for more Zombies!  8.9 mi on mixed surfaces (8:16/mi).  It was an easy-paced run, other than the all-out sprints during zombie chases.  Felt pretty good.  Left knee yoinked a few times, but switching to good form helps.  I had spent all day waiting for it to get cloudy enough to run outsisde without worrying about the sun.  I was a hungry, hungry hippo today.

Dec 29: 55 min recumbent bike session.

Dec 31: 4.4mi of Zombies (8:34 pace).  I lost the elastic cord of the shorts I was wearing, so the whole time, in addition to holding my iPhone, I was holding up my shorts… bother.  Felt strong.  A fasted morning run.

Jan 2: 65 min strength session.

Jan 3: 3.5 mi treadmill interval session (7:27 ave).

Jan 5: 5.0 mi on treadmill (8:06 pace).

Jan 6: 55 min bike session – pushed it.  Back in the office this week, and full force, too.  Valued sleep over workouts for much of the week.  

Jan 9: 4.1 mi on a treadmill that was 3-4 degrees, I estimate.  The treadmill in my apartment complex’s fitness room is getting progressively more broken.  Before, the monitor was slanted to the point where you couldn’t read half of the screen anymore, and now, on top of that, the incline button only goes up and down continuously, as opposed to step-wise, so I can’t really tell how steep the setting is.  

Jan 10: 65 min strength session.

Jan 11: Finally, another Zombies mission, after being relegated to the treadmill for quite a while.  It had just finished pouring rain, so I was swimming through puddles for much of the time.

Jan 12 – assembled a shelf (I’m quite proud of myself)

 

Jan 13: Didn’t feel like doing a standard run, and I was craving burpees (I’ve started doing some once a week, partially to get prepared for a Spartan race that I’ve signed up for).  The most I’ve done at one time is 40.  For this workout, I decided to really go Spartan-style, by doing a circuit… 1 mile run, 30 burpees, 1 mile run, 30 burpees, 1 mile run, 40 x 40lb lateral pulldowns, 1 mile run, 40 x 40 lb lateral pulldowns.  It was getting tough in the last mile and the last pulldown set.

Jan 14: 60 min bike session.  The rest of the week would be lots of work and tiredness.

Jan 17: 50 min strength session.

Jan 18: 5.2 mi of Zombies (8:57 pace)