Zombies, Run: First Mission
I've never done aerobic workouts. I am not into fitness in general, and always joke that I won't run unless something's chasing me so Zombies, Run is probably a good regime for me. :D More seriously, I have two reasons I'm trying to do this. First, I don't care a lot about losing weight. I like the way I look, for the most part, and losing weight won't change the things that annoy me (being unable to find clothes that fit my curvy frame). But I *do* want to be more fit. I want to be able to walk up a flight of stairs and not be winded. I want to be able to walk down to the store near my house and not dread the walk back. And second, which ties into the first--I have a 15 year old daughter. I am getting married in 5 months. I want to be around for a long long time. I don't want to have a heart-attack at 51, like my dad did.
So, I downloaded the Zombies, Run app, which is a 30-session interactive jogging app. The app cost $1.99 and took about 5 minutes to download. It's easy to use and syncs up with many music players (not Google play though). The app is built around individual "missions," which are audible podcasts that I listen to on my phone (mostly talking, interspersed with music.) I did the pre-mission on Tuesday, which was 30 minutes of walking while listening to some worldbuilding and backstory. I don't want to go into too many details of the storyline, just in case anyone wants to do the missions too. Basically, you're in a post-outbreak world with zombies, trying to survive by being trained to be a Runner, a person that makes runs for food and supplies into zombie territory.
My progress
Weight: 225 lbs
Distance: 2.2 miles
Duration: 30 minutes
Workout
So today was the first mission, which consisted of a 10 minute brisk walk, 10 minutes of wind-sprints (15 second run, 1 minute walk) and 10 minutes of free-walking. During that last period, I did 3 minutes of wind-sprints, 3 minutes of brisk walking and 4 minutes of cool-down.
Aftermath
The app is fun to use. The voice actors sound good, and there is just the right amount of updates ("Hey, you've done 5 minutes so far. Good job!") and story-building. It has an accelerometer, which doesn't work so well (it said I'd done 4.3 miles but Google maps says 2.2 miles.) It also has a GPS, which I will use from now on. The only complaint I have is that my earbuds keep popping out of my ears when I run. Does anyone know a good fix for that?
I took some ibuprofen before I began. I also stretched, but still had some pain in my right shoulder, so will have to spend more time stretching next time. I am pleasantly sore right now, but I don't feel horrible.
The running was not too much. I definitely felt like I could have run a little more without *dying,* but the point is to build endurance so I didn't try to push myself too hard. I feel really good about finishing a mission, and am looking forward to doing the next one on Saturday.
https://www.zombiesrungame.com