As a self-confessed lazy male that would much sooner spend my spare time sat in my living room in a pair of shorts with the heating turned up whilst I play on my games console, the motivation for going out for a run will always be somewhat of a struggle in a cold dark January.
You wake up its dark, you finish work its dark and the weather seems t consist of being cold, wet and windy and you already know every lyric to every song on your running playlist so without any races booked, what could possibly motivate this ageing gamer to keep on running?
We all know the old clichés that you need to eat less and move more and that running is 99% mental/1% physical so how can we fool the mind into running in a horrible grim British winter?
Step forward the app smartphone app called Zombies, Run! Which allows you to enter the post-apocalyptic world of Zombies and start running for your life! The story plays out through your headphones, with characters talking directly to you and directing you on your missions. Collect supplies for the other survivors as you run and use them to upgrade your base when you’re back home.
Run through your local high street from Zombies!
You simply attach your running playlist, and then start up the app on your phone as you go for a run, this is where things get interesting because you will hear at intervals in your earphones that zombies are getting closer and the only way to evade them is to run faster. Despite the fact you are running in a busy street, you are bloody running from zombies so somehow find yourself lost in the moment and look like you are running for your life!
The good news is that you are now running faster than your average pace and enjoying it, but the bad news is that to the outside world you look like an absolute nutter.
Being labelled a nutter doesn’t bother me too much and after setting myself a 700K running target for 2014, I need all the help I can get. The fact it has helped me reach 14 runs in January where I usually only manage a handful speaks volumes.
So if you are struggling for motivation after muttering the infamous words “new year, new me” don’t give up, simply try running away from zombies…
Neil Hughes 