You may recall that I have a fondness for audio fiction. Genre doesn't matter, I love them all. I particularly enjoy full-cast audio drama (like the
Drabblecast and
Dunesteef). A while back, I saw a new app mentioned on Erica's blog,
And Baby Makes Four, that was a good motivator for her to go running (
this post, specifically). I checked it out, but the $7.99 price tag for Zombies, Run! was enough for me to forgo the purchase. Weeks (months?) went by, and one of my friends mentioned on Facebook that the app is now 50% off! And while $7.99 is too much, $3.99 was doable, so I bought it.
Dude. This is amazing. I love this app. It basically sticks *you* the runner into the middle of the story, narrated in present tense, full cast style. I won't spoil any of the plot points, but the basic premise is that you have a variety of missions to fulfill while you escape from zombies. You can add a playlist to your phone (if you have the right music app, and create a playlist *on your phone*) that will play your music between the plot pieces of the story. You have the option to add the moaning zombies to your runs, which I haven't done yet because I'm a chicken. Plus I was running at night, and the story is engrossing and spooky enough in the dark without the zombie noises. While you run your favorite route, you will be informed that you've picked up various items (trousers, underwear, tools, etc) and when you finish your run, you press a button and return to base. If you don't finish your mission in one go, you can continue it the next time you run. Because of this game (because, really, it's basically a real-life RPG) I ran 1.9 miles in 22 minutes last night. Okay, so I only ran most of that time. But still, it was great! I'm a bit sore today but that's not surprising. It honestly didn't feel like almost 2 miles.
The app and website are integrated (
https://www.zombiesrungame.com/) and you can link your Facebook account if you wish to share your runs with your friends. It also has a way to track your calories burned, and will log your time and distance. It doesn't track your speed (i.e. if you slow down it won't make the zombies get you) and the storyline continues whether you are running or walking. I really, really recommend this game, it is so much fun!
On a related note, I recently got new ear buds. I have freakishly tiny ear canals (like, the doctor has to use a pediatric otoscope to look in my ears) and have a horrid time finding ear buds that stay put and deliver good quality sound. I usually end up buying the $10 Sony or Phillips ones at Target (with just okay sound quality), and then they break 5 months later and I buy new ones (like
these). I can't wear the
Skullcandy ones, or any similarly styled, "in" your ear type ear buds, because they just fall out of my ears, unless I take off the cushion part completely, and then that just hurts. I found some new ones at Target this weekend, though, that caught my eye. Called
yurbuds Inspire for Women, these are actually designed for women's smaller ears! The set came with two sizes of silicon thingies, one larger and one smaller. I'm using the smaller ones. They are comfy, they FIT, they don't fall out, and I love them. They are also sweat-proof. They come in a multitude of colors (I got purple) and they are *so far* awesome. I can't speak to lasting power yet, but so far these are my favorite ever ear buds. At $30, they are more than I would usually spend, but I have hopes that they will last.
I was not paid or compensated for either of these reviews, and the companies involved don't have any idea who I am. I just wanted to share these awesome products with the world!
