ZOMBIES, RUN!
Put some undead in your workout
The app “Zombies, Run!” promises to motivate your jogging and make you a fit, zombie-dodging hero through a range of high-adrenaline downloadable missions.
After downloading the app, I selected season one and launched right into a mission: The supply helicopter I had been riding in crashed in the middle of the “zombie wilderness,” and I had to escape a group of about 40 “hostiles,” a chorus of ghastly moans following me.
“If there’s anyone alive out there just run … RUN!” crackled a radio transmission. Everyone at the township has to pull his or her weight. As Runner 5, I did that by distracting the “zoms” and collecting random supplies, based on how far I’d run. The supplies included items such as a bottle of water, a tin of food, bandages and a sports bra, each announced by an automated male voice.
Within five minutes, I collected two sports bras.
The missions usually last about 25 to 30 minutes, and your run will be monitored until you choose to finish, return to base, and move on to the next part of the story.
Total speed and distance — along with the accumulated supplies — are saved at the end of each mission.
$3.99, extra for each season on iOS and Android
By Caelainn Hogan, The Washington Post
UP COFFEE
Just how much caffeine have you consumed?
UP Coffee is a product of Jawbone, the company first known for its JAMBOX wireless Bluetooth speakers. In 2011, Jawbone expanded its Bluetooth-based products by launching UP, a fitness- and lifestyle-tracking wristband and accompanying app, similar to the Fitbit. UP Coffee is a complementary product to UP, but users don’t have to use the wristband to interact with UP Coffee.
You start by entering information such as your gender, height, weight and whether you’re sensitive to caffeine.
Every time you have caffeine, you tell UP Coffee what you drank or ate. The app makes it easy by organizing caffeine intake by size and product. So, if you have a cup of coffee, you tell it how many ounces. If you have a latte, you click one shot or two. If you go to a chain such as Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts, you can choose your exact drink.
Along with tracking how much caffeine is in your system, you can learn about your caffeine consumption habits, how you compare to average UP Coffee users and, if you are using an UP wristband, how caffeine affects your sleep.
If you forget to enter your intake at the time it occurs, you can update the app later.
After a week, the app generates a profile of your caffeine intake. I came in at an average of 193 milligrams of caffeine per day, 57 milligrams less than the average female user of UP. But considering that I didn’t know anything about the users of UP, I didn’t find this information useful.
I consulted , which says 193 milligrams of caffeine is about half the recommended limit for healthy adults.
Free for iOS
By Jessica Contrera, The Washington Post
