Zwifty-Zwift Run Product Review

I received a Zwift footpod as part of being a Bibrave Pro. Learn more about becoming a Bibrave Pro(ambassador), and check out Bibrave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

 

What is a Zwift, you might say? Well up into recently, you would have never heard of Zwift unless you were in the cycling world. Zwift was a program/app that allowed you to train indoors and connect with cyclists around the world in a virtual world. If you read any of my posts you know I am a runner, not a cyclist, so why did I get a Zwift pod? Because now Zwift has stepped into the running world. We received footpods in our Running Event swag bag, so let’s see how it turned out.

SETUP
In my previous posts about TRE, I told you about a few pros doing a Zwift run on the first day we were in Austin. The rest of us got to watch and cheer them on. On December 18^th, the Pros that didn’t get to run during TRE weekend finally got there chance to test out the Zwift Run. Before I tell you about the run, let me tell you what items you will need to get started.

·         Zwift Footpod or connected shoe

·         Download the Zwift app

·         Device to run Zwift (phone, laptop, ipad, etc)

·         Create a Zwift Account

·         Treadmill

The last item listed was a big deal for me, because I simply do not like running on “dreadmills”. Even if it raining or 20 degrees outside, I will go outside before I ever seek out a dreadmill. So, my first order of business was trying to find one. I don’t go to gyms and couldn’t find a friend that owned one, so it took some finessing. I found out Planet Fitness offered Day Passes to nonmembers, so I applied online and was given one.

THE VIRTUAL WORLD
I must admit the setup was pretty cool. Bibrave already had an event sent up for the date and time, so we just had to log into it. Once you log in, your virtual character appears at the starting line. The starting line header shows how much time you have left before the run begins. As more people sign in, their characters appear at the starting line with you with their name. There is even a message bar that you can communicate with everyone. Once the countdown reached zero, we were off. Based on what pace you entered when signing up for the event, the zwift app tells you what to set your treadmill at. We did a tempo run, so the pace changed several times during the run. Each time, the app would tell you what to set the treadmill(for instance, “increase treadmill to 6.2”) As you are running through the virtual world, you see all our friends running along with you. We even had a santa clause sighting in the middle of our run. Your friends can give you “thumbs up”, and after you finish the workout, you get a workout summary. There is even a saved screen shot of your character in the middle of the run. In addition to group runs, Zwift also has training plans you can use.

RECCOMENDATION
I am still not going to be a treadmill guy, BUT if I have to run on a treadmill at any time, I definitely will be using Zwift. Zwift managed to make something I think is so boring, more fun. There is nothing like running along with virtual friends and exploring a virtual world, whole lot better than running a staring at a tv monitor for miles on end. Don’t hit the treadmill without powering up Zwfit, and make some friends join you…the more the merrier.