Author Spotlight
Riley Atkinson
Intro:
Whether it’s an excuse to get out of the fourth family game night in a row or to escape the virtual entrapment that is TikTok, it seems as though the entire city of Prairie Village is out on the sidewalks.
I tried three highly rated running apps — Peloton, Nike Run Club and Zombies, Run — to help guide you through intervals and workouts. Keep reading to decide which app will support your next quarantine escape.
Peloton
Yes, Peloton is known for their incredibly overpriced spin bikes, but their mobile app is chock-full of running classes like “High Intensity Interval” runs and themed jogs. They’re also currently offering a free 90-day trial — perfect for a quarantine budget.
There are classes for both treadmill and outdoor running, each rated on a difficulty scale of one to ten so you know what you’re getting into. The title of some workouts made me a little short of breath just by looking at them — a “Fat-Burning Fun Run” doesn’t sound so fun to me. But props to Peloton for supplying such a wide variety of intensity levels, even though I’ll stick to beginner.
The program I tried was an outdoor run called “30 minute walk and run” with a difficulty rating of 6.8/10. As someone who never runs but works out regularly with other forms of cardio, this was the right level for me. “Interval” was the instructor’s favorite word — we walked, then jogged, then ran with an increasing interval through the 30 minutes.
With an impressively-chosen music soundtrack of Lizzo, Drake and Nicki Minaj, it was hard not to stay motivated, even when the 90-second sprinting interval came around and I thought I might collapse into my neighbor’s yard.
While going through the workout, the app shows the distance you’ve gone and calories you’ve burned, which adds another motivating factor. In only 30 minutes, I burned over 200 calories — enough to cancel out a good handful of chips. And the time went quickly because the instructor continued talking, which easily kept my mind off my heavy breathing.
Unfortunately for my ego, everyone in quarantine had the same idea — get out of the house. So while Peloton encouraged me to “get those knees high” or “swing those arms,” I felt the burning judgement from fellow walkers. Embarrassing.
Overall, I can definitely say I’ll be coming back to this app and I’d recommend anyone to do the same, whether you haven’t run since the elementary school Pacer test or you’re a state-qualifying XC runner.
Nike Run Club
Nike Run Club recently paired up with Headspace, a mindfulness app, to create guided runs for specific purposes. I decided on a run called “Morning Run with Headspace” that focused on waking your body up and facilitating a good start to the day.
As the suave-voiced co-founder of Headspace instructed me to “check in with my body” or “release negative energy,” I barely paid attention to the sweat beads dripping down my forehead. Well done on the calming factor, Nike.
Unlike Peloton, the instructors for this workout didn’t take me through any interval or tell me what speed I should be running. This left some room for personalization, but I also felt inclined to jog for most of the 30 minute workout as the co-founder would encourage me to “make the most out of this time.”
I was also impressed with Nike’s free selection of workouts — they have everything from full programs for marathon runners to start-up programs for newbies, not requesting a penny.
A feature titled “Club” provides challenges like the “April Weekly Challenge” to unite the community. If a reminder popped up on my screen and told me I’m “so close to finishing this week’s goal,” I might just be able to swipe out of Instagram and strap on my tennis shoes.
Big props to Nike’s marketing team — the app even has a section called “My Running Shop,” which promotes the latest trends of Nike running essentials. So just a warning — if you do download this app, your wallet might hurt a little afterwards. It’s tough not to reward yourself with those new printed sneakers after a three mile run.
Zombies, Run
A zombie chase doesn’t exactly serve as a peaceful escape from reality. And in all honesty, when I first heard about this app, I thought the apocalyptic theme felt a little too real in the trying times of a pandemic.
The Zombies, Run app features an elaborate storyline — it starts off by placing you as one of the few who survived the zombie apocalypse. The commentary upon opening the app tells you in the intro that you’re a runner en-route to one of humanity’s last remaining outposts. How calming!
A “Missions” tab in the app holds all the options for how you can “save humanity” — whether that be through a 5k training plan to “get fitter and faster” or personalized interval training with the goal of “clearing out nests of zombies.”
In order to access some of the more advanced settings in the app, you have to join the club, which costs $5.99 per month or $34.99 per year. They do have some good free options, though, and personally, I’d rather contribute that money to my Starbucks addiction than pay to get chased by zombies. But if fear of being eaten by animated zombies is the only way to get you to run three miles, you should head to the App Store.
I chose a 30 minute run and turned on GPS tracking so I could see how much land I covered. There’s also an option to link your own music — but I must say, my running playlist is a little too upbeat and cheery to play in the background of helicopter sounds and frantic screaming.
Oddly enough, the zombie feature could be turned off. This actually worked out great for me since I didn’t necessarily appreciate the impending doom of supernatural death, but without it I was missing the point of the app.
While on the run, I found my eyes darting around the neighborhood. The sound of a squirrel running up a tree made me think I was about to get attacked.
And I won’t lie, I had to turn the audio off a few minutes in. The zombie noises spiked my heart rate way more than it would’ve if I was sprinting, and I wasn’t a fan. But again, if you thrive in high-pressure environments, you should try this out.
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