Heads up! Here’s your massive list of sports tech deals! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $449, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium for $735, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, and plenty more! Go check out the full list here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
3
Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
4
My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
5
The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Super blog, super reviews
Bunny run done for the day
Easter…a day to reflect on the origin of “putting all your eggs in one basket.” Could this the Universe’s way of telling me to start swimming and cycling again? Become a triathlete instead of just a runner? Nah…hand me more chocolate and my running shoes!
About the only funny story I have from Easter is from when I was five or six years old.
I remember eating what was probably two pounds of chocolate and sugary candy before church one Sunday. Let’s just say I wasn’t the best kid that day and may have even ruined a couple of people’s day.
Anyways, there’s the story. Thanks for keeping up a great blog and for the chance to win the forerunner.
Easter story: I don’t celebrate the bunny side of Easter, but when friends who know me wish me “Happy Easter”, I give them a Dickens inspired response:
“BAH-HUMBUNNIES!”
Yes, I am the Scrooge of Easter!
Today’s workout: A 5k-ish run through Cleveland Park in Greenville, South Carolina, USA using the inaccurate Cardio Trainer app on my Droid.
Happy Easter. Lifted weights yesterday.
Brian in Little Rock
Just got back from a family trip to the US around the Boston Marathon… Went for a run back home and got lost… Damn’ Jet lag
Impressive giveaway!
My workout this weekend was a 20 mile run. It was actually pretty fun.
Hi DCRainmaker. Sad to say I’m on a 2 week hiatus, nursing injuries. Hope to get back to running soon.
Will be utilising my thickest easter egg for some much needed massage on my IT band. Some for the leg, some for me!!
I just took up trail running a few weeks ago, and would find this very handy!
Happy Easter! Heading to the Brewers game to celebrate with a John Axford bobblehead!
Every Easter morning, my brother and I would run around searching for eggs, well I guess I was the only one running. I would try and pick up as many as possible while my older brother would slowly meander around the house and yard picking the egg up, opening it, describing to the video camera what was in the egg and even though he would have only a handful of eggs, I would be jealous of the ones he did find since he found the hard to see eggs. In the end, we would put all our candy in the same bag! It seems completely pointless to get upset now but that is sibling rivalry for you! This weekend I’m at college and training for the marathon! This Forerunner would be a great help to running the city streets!
I forgot to say, every Easter I would create an Easter book where the Easter bunny would have to sign in when he got to my house and sign out when he left. I wasn’t skeptical; I just wanted to track his progress! Every Easter he accepted and would always sign in and leave me a message though!
That is a pretty slick watch. Might be enough to get me into the modern age of training.
Plan to be on the beach this Easter on beautiful St Thomas VI
Plan to be on the beach this Easter, Swim a little, and relax a lot at Brewers Bay, St Thomas VI
25 miles of all the hills I can find ’round here – which luckily (or unluckily) isn’t very many.
I hope I’ll win this one. It’ll be a great upgrade form my forerunner 305!
My workout plan for Easter? The same thing I do every weekend, Pinky…try to ride around Manhattan! (Note: there are no bike trails on the north end, so, like the Brain, I shall continue to fail).
I plan to study study study… 5 tests including national boards, 2 2 year cumulative finals and 2 section finals in 5 weeks… after that Imma need to hit the road something FIERCE to regain some semblance of sanity… Happy easter :)
I remember when I was a kid having an Easter Egg hunt and seeing some eggs on a shelf in the bathroom which I quickly tucked into, soon to realise that they were decorative and made out of soap!
Walked my dog Duke before church service. Now taking him on a 2-hour hike.
Oh Happy Day!
When I was abot 7, a funky smell in the house in August turned out to be a well-hidden and now rotting Easter egg.
Can’t really think of an easter story but this is easter I’m totally going to do my personal Easter Triathlon consisting of sleeping in, eating chocolate and relaxing on the couch! Oh yeah. I’m hardcore. Recovery weeks are awesome, especially with my girlfriend being in town.
Looking to compete in my first Sprint before my 25th birthday. Hopefully all these 5K races that led up to this have me prepared!
Completed a long run with a friend and spending time with the family! Happy Easter!
The 610 could be a handy update to my 305.
Funnily enough, today (Sunday) was one of the few days of the year when I did not run, after running a marathon a week ago and travelling back home today.
fingers crossed
Hmm … a FR610 would be perfect to replace my old FR205 which just died. Count me in!
Celebrated Easter with a 6 mile run down on the mall in DC with my fiancee.
Whether you celebrate Easter or Passover, this recipe for Chocolate Toffee Matzoh Crack is awesome.
Believe me; you’ll become a crack addict!
link to onceuponachef.com
Planned workout: an hour on Saturday, short run on Sunday for Easter.
I guess it is just a matter of try again and again and one of this years I will get it ;oP
“92c1ab64-587f-11e0-98ac-000f20980440” is me, I do not know why my AOL username (JosePelegrin) does not come out as it should
Going out to do a four miles run in the hills. Training for the Garden of the Gods 10 miles run in Colorado Springs in June.
My wife tells me her Mom would make painted eggs and not empty them. And from time to time they would be reminded of Easter when one of the eggs “exploded” all the wonderful smell included.
-gglo
Enjoyed a leisurely 3 mile run in Central Park this morning in beautiful 60 degree weather. The best Easter gift? To give Winter the boot finally!
Catherine K
Beautiful day in Toronto. Did a long run in the afternoon. Just enjoying the rest of the evening with the kids. Be well everyone.
I would love to have that Forerunner 610! I have never had a GPS watch, and it looks like this one will be a nice way to get started.
Last Easter my wife was kind enough to let me finish watching the Paris-Roubaix live then riding over to join the family at church.
No evil eye or anything!
Happy Easter!
Did an easy 5 miles this morning and will take the bike out tonight for 20 miles.
When I was 21 my mother hid easter eggs and put together a Easter basket for me and my sister-in-law, she was 23. We both like to hunt easter eggs and would to this day, if given the chance. My siser-in-law won with the most eggs in her basket. I still had a great time!!
picture amsterdam on a beautiful easter morning, two little kids far from home. their father promises them everything will seem normal if they join the easter egg hunt the hotel is holding for visitors. out we go, eager to find some yummy chocolate, stopped dead in my tracks, i found the first bunny empaled on an iron fence post. that was the end of the hunt.
on a workout note, i bought the nike watch at the boston expo and couldn’t get it to work in time for the race!!! apparently not happy with my mac? so i’ve given it to my brother, in hopes for a garmin… please pretty please with sugar on top!
my name is sarah, sarahtaylordesign@gmail.com
thanks for the chance
I want!
Happy easter! Did the bunny bring me a new watch?
planned on running 13 miles this morning without water. DC heat got the best of me. stopped after 11 miles. long walk home.
Planned to run 5 miles or so on Saturday and ride 25 miles on Sunday – success! And then I negated all calorie deficits by stuffing my face at Easter dinner.
Easter workout consisted of a family walk with a baby, a BOB stroller, and a bounding Bouvier. A great day!
hoping to win!!!
Happy Easter!
Would love an update to my Garmin 201. Thanks for all the great info you provide.
Half Marathon coming up, this watch would be a great reward!! :)
Only one day left of the weekend, but maybe some road cycling in the sun and some group training indoors.
Just starting training for a tri. Have a girlfriend going through chemo who races that has inspired me.
I had my sister in law for the weekend and convinced me to go for a 40 mile bike training ride with her and her husband. This could be consifered quite normal if it would not be for the fact that I had not ridden for the past 8 years! Yes 8 yrs I had not ridden…so you can imagin how my red Kestrel was (all dusted with flat tires…in a nut shell not working at all). After a few hours getting it in shape, I headed out next day with them, just to get many amazing questions on the size of the tires (yes they are 26 inches), the gear sizes (yes the smallest cranck is a 42), a foreward seatpost and so on. I can only say that the bike worked much better than I did, I had to take a long nap afterwards to recover from the morning ride.
Thanks for your detailed reviews.
Plan to do my first tri in July. started to train now.
Thanks for sharing your reviews, experiences and your swag. Your blog has definitely been bookmarked and look forward to hearing about your upcoming wedding, congrats!
Thanks for your detailed gear reviews.
I have just started training for my first half-marathon (San francisco in July). I have never been much of a runner in the past – I am reminded of the Friends episode where Phoebe is flailing around in an attempt to run. With that being said, I feel like I am finally starting to get the hang of this whole thing and I am no longer embarrassed to go into my local running store. I am hopeful that this is just the beginning…..
I thought that I posted my story. Not sure what happened!
Too much work this w/e for a real workout.
Thanks,
Larry
I had gotten into a terribly loud fight with my girlfriend the week before Easter. The type of sonic beatdowns that comes out of left field and leaves you standing there looking back and forth as strangers give curious glances and snickers.
Well, so I decided to give her 3 big, chocolate filled bunnies for Easter. We had been going out for 3 months prior so I thought this was a cute gesture. Mind you, this was in high school, when relationships lasting more than two weeks is cause for celebration. I gave her the chocolates shortly, to a long drawn out “awwwww” and a kiss and a hug, before I had to rush of for a track meet.
1/2 hour before my race, I checked my phone for any life updates when I see a missed call and voicemail from my girlfriend. “Oh, she’s forgiven me!” being what I was thinking at the time. Instead, I received a 10-minute machine gun barrage of words that ended with a breakup worthy of the Real World.
Turns out all 3 bunnies were empty and she thought I emptied them out on purpose. Thank you, Jesus.
This will make me more aero than wearing my Edge 500 on my wrist.
Great reviews of the GPS watches. Looking to get one to not have to carry my Android phone to track miles, pace, etc.
Sarah: that… says a lot about the person who “hid” it!
Walked to/from Easter Sunrise Service this AM. All of 3.5 miles. Been sick the past 3 weeks. More of a workout than I would have thought. Man, am I out-of-shape.
Ran outdoors yesterday for the first time in a while. Stayed in today, did some core conditioning work. Happy Easter!
One of my favorite Easter memories…volunteering with habitat for humanity for the week leading up to easter helping families build their homes…then eating Easter dinner together with all the families and local volunteers after a week of hard work.
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I just discovered this blog, as I am looking to purchase my first GPS watch. This is fantastic. Great job!
Love your blog! Thanks for sharing. Running is new to me this year and a watch like this would be a great thing!
Easy long run (24k@4:30 min/km) as prep for Copenhagen (DK) Marathon on May 22. 2011.
I like how thorough your reviews are. Keep up the good work.
Don’t really have any funny Easter stories, but I did take a wrong turn on Sunday on the way to the coastal highway (of Taiwan) where I was going to do a training ride for next week’s triathlon. Ended up getting lost in the mountains, and when stopping to ask how to get back to the coast, got a lot of “you can’t get there from here” answers.
As a kid I thought a bunch of black jelly beans were chocolate and put them all in my mouth. They were licorice, not a good taste at all for someone who had never tasted it before. I still don’t like it.
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Just found this site! I really enjoy your site and all the insightful reviews. Thanks!
Ed L
Count me in!
The easter bunny was very kind to me yesterday and I have a serious weakness for chocolate! In my chocolate fuelled state I set myself a challenge to overtake at least 10 other runners on my easter run…. and I did it! Looks like the ‘egg fuel’ worked a treat. Happy easter everyone :-)
since the snow in norway has finally melted i plan to go for a spring run in the city parks, it may seem like not much, but after 6 months of winter and snow it just is fantastic to be able to feel the hard ground under my feet…plus i plan to eat many chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies…
Former tri-person, now bike racer … about 5 pounds too heavy and lack of enough motivation to train right … thinking running again will be my ticket back to race weight, core strength, and increased morale.
My planned workout for the next weekend are just one or two easy runs.
username0765 at hotmail
Planning to race in a “Half Ironman” competition in Tiberias, Israel.
:-)
No funny Easter Stories only Passover dinners, one after the other …
Must train harder next week.
Thanks for the amazing blog.
10 mile race on Saturday. First race since last summer. Getting over knee injury. I love this blog – you are a great resource. osborn.sandra@gmail.com
10 mile race on Saturday. Getting over a knee injury. Thanks for your blog. Great resource.
Hi there!
Got home from my morning two hours mountainbike ride where I smashed my loved 310XT. Display is now broken and can not see anything on it. Got a half-marathon (Gothenburg in Sweden) in four weeks and can not imagine how I’m going to make it without my Garmin. And when I saw you had the review of this new model – and the give-away – I’m putting all my hopes into being the lucky one to get the 610 from you! Over here in Sweden we have to wait a few months more until it is shiped to stores. If we are lucky at the end of the summer…
Training schedule comming weekend:
Friday: 3 km warm up. 6X1Km at 4:40min/km speed intervals, 1 min rest between each intervall, 3 km easy jogg.
Saturday: resting
Sunday: 18 km distans with increasing speed at 96 min.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Stefan, runner, skier and mountainbiker from Sweden
No workouts planned this weekend, much like Easter 10 years ago, when my brothers dog [read mutt] chewed the saddle off my bike after I left it in the backyard on Good Friday.
When I was a freshman in college, I didn’t have a ride home for Easter so was just going to stick around campus. A couple of days before, I was hanging out with a group of guy friends who had apparently decided together that I should have somewhere to go for the holiday. They told me, “We played paper/rock/scissors to see who would get to take you home with them. You’re spending Easter with Randy.”
Nice Review…………
Can you include Amazon France in your links as well, please? I do buy there once in a while and would be happy to help you get some earnings, since a really enjoy your blog, which a follow only for a couple of months now.
Thanks.
I just got back from spending Easter in Malta. Wow, they are very very passionate about it!! No chocolate eggs, instead the kids run through the streets with plastic sculptures of christ!
Maybe if I had done that as a child rather than stuffing my face with chocolate eggs I’d be a better runner now!
When is Garmin going to give the date for the release of the FR610. I sold my FR405 to get the new one. I am now GPS watchless and I continue to reach for my wrist when I start my run. I would gladly take the giveaway watch!
I found your blog searching for GPS watch reviews and let me say, yours really are the best and most thorough I’ve found anywhere!
I’d love to get my hands on the 610 and really get some awesome info on all my spring training from it!
Thanks again for all you’re doing, the reviews and blog are awesome!
Holiday was great!!! I have to say that my family and I all seemed to have entered a 5K, although rather than a foot race it was to see who would be the first to eat 5,000 calories. Although I didn’t win I think I may have placed, and now have to bump up the workout intensities this week to get back on pace.
It’s Easter, I am in Rome after running (badly) the London Marathon and dropping my 310xt in the Easter Egg Hunt. A great Easter Day run around the Vatican yesterday, plus sneaking into St Peters in running gear… and my 310xt has gone and died before I could extract the run! The London crash obviously ruptured its poor little electrons. Sigh…