Product Review: Zwift Run

Disclaimer: I received a Zwift Run Pod to review 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!




I don't know about you but I HATE running outside once the weather gets cold. It's just not fun, the air just cuts through you clothes and make it's so uncomfortable. I could go on for a while about the negatives to running in the cold, but I want to share with you something amazing that could prevent you from running outside in the cold.

Zwift is a digital platform that has created several different virtual world for athletes to exercise in from the comfort of their home or gym. While there are both biking and running options for Zwift, I'm going to tell you about the running aspect of it.

It starts with their run pod, it clips on to your shoe and connects to your device via bluetooth. You can connect it to many devices, I connect my to an iPad. The pod send the Zwift App data about your cadence and speed, from running on the treadmill, which the app then uses an avatar of yourself to depict yourself running in their virtual world, based off the speed you're running on the treadmill.

It's a super smart system that allows you to run specific workouts, group runs, and freestyle runs. For the purpose of this campaign we were participating in their group runs every Tuesday. It was named, Turn it Up Tuesday.

You have to download the Zwift Companion App which is how you access your profile when you're not running. This lets you join the Zwift Community to see what group runs are available, and then you can follow your friends. We had to join the Turn it Up Tuesday runs on the Zwift Companion App each week. Then when we were on the treadmill using the Zwift App we were able to click a button to join the group run.

The groups runs are great because in the Zwift Companion App you get to choose what pace group you would like to run with. I love this feature because you can choose when to push yourself or when you just want to take it a bit easy.

I was a pace leader for the B Groups which runs around a 8:00/mile. The workouts were a variety throughout the weeks of our training from tempo runs to intervals. I was using these workouts to get ready for a turkey trot. These workouts were great because the app told me exactly what paces to set the treadmill for. It took all the guess work out of the workout and let me really focus on the run rather than my pace.

 I didn't end up making it to my turkey trot because I didn't feel fully recovered from my marathon, and it was a frigid morning too. However I love the option of taking the treadmill to new limits with this app so I can keep running in the winter and stay in shape without having to brave the cold!