Technology is kind of amazing. Everybody carries a computer in their pocket that is orders of magnitude more powerful than the computers that put men on the moon. And we use that technology to play stupid timewaster games. I've tried to use my phone to get into shape, and I feel like it's been tremendously helpful. I started writing a post about all the different apps I used to do this, and it was getting way too long. I decided to cut it down to just two apps, and if people are interested, I can write more posts about the others. These two apps that I am talking about today are both for running.
The first is Runkeeper. Runkeeper is a GPS enabled app for running or walking. It tracks your runs and tells you distance, time, speed, etc. While you run, it can play music from your phone to keep you entertained. It also gives you a pretty good web interface to look at old runs to track progress. There is a way to have it post automatically to Facebook, but I am too dumb. So, whenever I go on a run I am proud of, I screencap it and post it to let everyone know how great I am.
The first is Runkeeper. Runkeeper is a GPS enabled app for running or walking. It tracks your runs and tells you distance, time, speed, etc. While you run, it can play music from your phone to keep you entertained. It also gives you a pretty good web interface to look at old runs to track progress. There is a way to have it post automatically to Facebook, but I am too dumb. So, whenever I go on a run I am proud of, I screencap it and post it to let everyone know how great I am.
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| Not that you would be proud of this, but I was. |
The big problem with Runkeeper is that running is boring. I know that's not really a problem with the app, but Runkeeper doesn't help much. Playing music just doesn't cut it for me. A better app for making running fun is Zombies, Run! It's kind of hard to describe, but the takehome is that it is awesome.
Zombies, Run! is like runkeeper, in that it is a GPS enabled running app that keeps track of your runs for you. But what sets it apart is the story. Rather than just listening to music while you run, it plays a story. So, over your headphones comes what is essentially an audiobook about the zombie apocalypse. You take the role of Runner 5, a runner for a small group of survivors. Every run is a "mission" for the town, where you have to run for supplies, rescue other survivors, or do other important things to keep the town alive. It's really fun.
And if you're not much of a runner (as I am not), you can start with the Zombies, Run! 5k trainer, which is an 8 week training course that takes you from "can't run at all" to "can run more than not at all." I just finished that (which is what made me want to write this post), and it was a very good, gentle teacher to get me started. In the 5k trainer, you have a completely self-encapsulated story about (shock!) a new person coming to town and being trained as a runner. You have 3 workouts a week for 8 weeks, starting with very easy ones (run for 15 seconds, walk for a minute) and ending with much more intense ones.
If you think you might want to try getting into running, go drop $1.99 on the 5k trainer. It is great, and it really helped me make running enjoyable.
I don't have a good way to end this post. Go try these apps!
Zombies, Run! is like runkeeper, in that it is a GPS enabled running app that keeps track of your runs for you. But what sets it apart is the story. Rather than just listening to music while you run, it plays a story. So, over your headphones comes what is essentially an audiobook about the zombie apocalypse. You take the role of Runner 5, a runner for a small group of survivors. Every run is a "mission" for the town, where you have to run for supplies, rescue other survivors, or do other important things to keep the town alive. It's really fun.
And if you're not much of a runner (as I am not), you can start with the Zombies, Run! 5k trainer, which is an 8 week training course that takes you from "can't run at all" to "can run more than not at all." I just finished that (which is what made me want to write this post), and it was a very good, gentle teacher to get me started. In the 5k trainer, you have a completely self-encapsulated story about (shock!) a new person coming to town and being trained as a runner. You have 3 workouts a week for 8 weeks, starting with very easy ones (run for 15 seconds, walk for a minute) and ending with much more intense ones.
If you think you might want to try getting into running, go drop $1.99 on the 5k trainer. It is great, and it really helped me make running enjoyable.
I don't have a good way to end this post. Go try these apps!
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