Product Review: Zwift

Disclaimer: I received a Zwift Run Pod 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!


This has been one of the funnest products that I have tested for Bibrave. What Zwift is is a virtual world where people get to run or bike from their home or gym. You wear a tracking pod on your shoe and it send it to the app which shows your avatar running. 

The idea is to make running on the treadmill fun again rather than being on a dreadmill. I can say from the very beginning of TRE that it was very fun and interactive. I loved that you get to customize your avatar to look just like you and see him running along the beach or up a mountain. It's a great distraction when being stuck running in a gym in the middle of winter.

The group run feature is pretty cool. Using the Zwift Companion app you can sign up for group runs with runner from all over the world. You can choose which pace group is closest to the pace you want to run. Then when you launch the Zwift app it gives you a prompt to join the group run. Everyone starts at the same time, and you can see you pace and their paces along the side. It makes it fun with you run with others because you can see how much faster you would need to run to catch up and pass them. 

Also using the Zwift Companion app you can join a training plan. These plans are the best plans I have used since they are gathering data from you in real time and telling you how to adjust your pace for the desired workout. It tells you what pace to start out on and then has a progress bar of how much longer you have before a pace change. Running repeats was super fun because once I ran through the start line it told me when to increase the speed on the treadmill and what to set it to. Then since you are on a treadmill the your pace will remain the same, so there isn't any cheating. 

As you progress through your training runs, group runs, and normal runs you gain experience which levels you up. Each time you hit a new level you unlock a new outfit. So you know that anyone that has pink running shoes has to be a certain level within the app. I like that feature so much because it makes me have more respect for these avatars since I can tell which ones put in the most treadmill time. 

During Christmas they even had Santa's sleigh soaring through the air which made the run very fun. Some of my favorite brands like Nuun even have banners in the virtual world which really makes you feel like you are running in a real place. I've run in Central Park, London, along the beach, but I can't seem to find the volcano that everyone else has. I will have to be on the lookout!

Conclusion

This app is changing the way we train and run on a treadmill, simple as that. It's becoming fun again and allows you to have a killer training plan even when it's winter and too cold to log any miles outside.