Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Pokémon Go. This is of course the massive augmented reality sensation from Nintendo that places Pokémon into the world around us. The game uses data from Google Maps in order to allow us to hunt for local Pokémon and this then triggers a mini game using a combination of your device’s camera and its gyroscopes in order to make the Pokémon appear as though they’re right there in front of you.

But what does this have to do with running?

Well, if you want to give yourself a new challenge and make your running fun in a new way, you can turn this into a running workout! Here is how it works

Set Up the Game and Go!

The first thing to do of course is to set up the game. Once you’re ready, just run out the door and start!

Now, the key thing to remember here is that you mustn’t spend the entire time looking at your phone. When you do that, you will be putting yourself at risk and you’ll likely put your foot in a pothole or ditch. Never run while looking at your screen!

The good news is that your device will vibrate when you’re near a Pokémon. All you need to do then is carry it in one hand and run to areas where they’re likely to be. Pokéstops are places where people can ‘lure’ Pokémon, which means there will often be more in those areas. Run to the areas on your map with lots of blue structures and pink leaves and then you should find your phone vibrates from time to time.

When that happens, just stop, play the minigame and capture your Pokémon! It makes running more fun but it can also act as a form of natural interval training. Because you’ll be running and stopping intermittently, this means you can run a little faster between Pokémon.

Tips

One tip when running is that you should put the game on ‘battery saver mode’. In this mode, the device screen will go dark as long as it is held upside down. That means you can point it down while running, or you can slip it in a pocket and you’ll be using considerably less power. Soon there will be a Pokémon Go smartwatch you can wear!

The other tip is to make sure to incubate eggs. These hatch based on the steps you take, so running will give you a big advantage!