Heads up! Here’s your massive list of sports tech deals! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $429, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium for $735, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, (or Hero 13 bundle for $339!) 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.
My childhood Easter stories always involved me finding the most eggs and then sulking when I was forced to share them equally between all my younger siblings!
Luckily I am much better at sharing now. I would love this watch! :)
Already have 310 XT but it would be nice to have this one too.
running a hilly 5k in preparation for my first ever (sprint) triathlon at the same lake!
eating chocolate easter eggs when i am done. well, maybe a few the day before too..
One tip don’t hide chocolate eggs in a warm location when it rains it will melt before the kids get to them. Ask my dad….
No funny easter stories, but I have a 15 month old daughter, I imagine it will be really hard for me to hide her eggs without eating the candy inside them first. This weekend I’m just doing a couple easy runs.
Thanks for all the giveaways!
Plan to do excessive eating eating with both sides of the family, drink beer and a very slow 18k run/roll after all the lamb preparing for a half marathon next month.
Great review, Sat a 1.2 mile swim, a 60 mile bike, then I get to be the Easter Bunny!
It is Springfest here in Stuttgart, so we’ll celebrate easter with liter beers and dancing on tables. Normal sunday, you know.
Plan to do a 8km run on Friday and a slow long 14km run on Sunday.
Flying to LA thid weekend (from Hong Kong!) so planning to take it relatively easy. Maybe a 10K run or something?
Well, most likely will need a few 1 hour runs throughout the lazy, warm weekend… just to feel I’m still alive.
In Brisbane Australia we get a 5 day weekend for Easter, that means 2 swims, 2 runs, a decent ride and maybe some chocolate :)
My mother once hid a bunch of Easter eggs in the back yard – and most were found. Sadly, the rest were found by their dog, who ultimately ended up at the vet’s getting his stomach pumped.
He lived – but since then, the eggs have been less well-hid :-)
Hello,
Regards from Spain
Do you know when Garmin Forerunner 610 will be available in Europe?
We get a five-day weekend down here in Sydney thanks to Anzac day. Hopefully the training plan will involve a 50 mile ride, a couple of 20 milers and starting week 7 of the couch 2 5k running program.
All that and eating hot cross buns from the bakery around the corner!
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Hello from Barcelona!! trainning for my first Sprint!!
Great job on your blog!!
Miquel
No funny stories yet, though with a 5yo and a 7yo, I’m sure a few are in the making. After my latest brush with a near-stress fracture, I’m building mileage very slowly, so my planned run this weekend is an easy six, just now building back to 25+ mpw. This is way tougher than going hard all the time. Thanks, Ray.
Do a long run, enjoying the sun and some easter chocolate.
Hello from Barcelona!! trainning for my first Sprint!!
Great job on your blog!!
Miquel
Long run, preparing for a half and a full marathon in May!
considering a sprint tri this month so testing my shape.
openwater swim following with about 12K Ride and 5K Run.
I’ve got the longest run I’ve done so far on the schedule for Easter Sunday. Then, hopefully, a nice long nap.
So cool, Ray!
After Monday/Tuesday with 30K+44K running in the woods and under the sun, the next week-end will be studious: report & journalist’s view of the 24 hours France championship :-)
A 1hr 45min long run with my wife on Sunday.
I would love to receive this watch! Happy Eastern, Ray!
Finishing up my first week of a 20 week training plan with the end result being that I cross the finish line of my very first 1/2 Iron distance tri(Beach2Battleship)!
Saturday, my wife & I are going hiking and Sunday is “Speed Day” in the pool followed by 45 minutes on the indoor trainer. Have a great weekend all! And if I win the FR610, I am giving it to my friend and training partner!
wow! amazing :)
I cannot recall any interesting past Easter Capers-just fond memories of being with my family and my closest cousin and I dressing up in our Easter best-
This year my daughter is 2 1/2 so she actually is aware of the Easter Bunny etc. so hubby and I are going to do a big Egg Hunt around the yard for her–it’ll be fun.
Training as usual–up early for a long run then the games will begin.
I am planning a relaxing weekend after 2 consecutive weekends of competitive races. The FR 610 will be an additional motivation to train harder for my 1st half-marathon in May.
I’m going to a party saturday night, on the french atlantic coast.
I will run on the beach sunday morning, my goal is a sub 40min 10km in June.
No funny story unfortunately, and since I’m a week away from the St. Croix Ironman 70.3 this weekend will involve packing and trying to limit the training – 3 or 4 hour brick on Saturday, 1.5 – 2.75 hour brick on Sunday depending on how I feel. Giddy-up!
I plan on carbo loading on Peeps!
I plan on an easy run to shake those Boston Mass hills right out of my legs.
We’re planning to enjoy a seafood dinner with friends on Sunday evening. Otherwise, I plan to relax and complete workouts four and five of the week.
Hope to do 2 sets of 2 hill repeats over this long weekend – link to connect.garmin.com
Happy Running.
It would be great to have a FR 610 for giveaway!
Well, I was going to buy a new watch (not decided which one yet) since my ol’405 doesn’t charge anymore (it always displays 100% charge so I believe that it doesn’t really charge and usually when I unplug it, it show the low battery alert just when I get around the block).
So you can see why you need to pick me (ok I know you don’t pick the winner), and the new 610 will perfectly replace my dying 405 (which has gone through over 11 000 km so it’s time for its retirement).
Thanks, if you send me the 610, I’ll let you know if it works in France.
Ray, have a great weekend!
Plan on a lazy 18 km run on Saturday before attacking a large Dark Chocolate bunny on Sunday
Thanks so much for your reviews and updates. Love reading them.
My plans..hmmm just not to eat too much ;)
Easter sunrise service on the beach with the fams
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I will be celebrating Easter down in Piedmont, Italy with friends. It will consist of 5 days of cycling through the region and of course some sampling of the local wines!
Getting my 8 months old godchild his first ride this easter! A “learn-to-walk”-push-cart! Getting myself a nice 190k-ride through yet bikewise uncharted territory. Happy days…
Your reviews are awesome. I want a watch!
No special plan for easter, but this Garmin watch would be a nice easter gift !
I’ve got IM St. George in a few weeks so I’ll be tapering. The watch would definitely help with the race!
I’m returning from a plantar fascia tear so I’m hoping for an easy six miles.
DC
Just started running and like to read you’re extended reviews and information on you’re blog.
Thanks for that.
When my wife was little she and her brother used to have an ice cream tub each to store their easter eggs in. My wife used to eat all of hers but her brother eeked his out and made it last until Christmas. So my wife used to steal his when he wasn’t looking. He only recently found out why his chocolate suddenly started disappearing so fast!
I am house sitting for a friend here in sunny London, they have a roof terrace, so I might run around on that..
No Easter for me, but do plan on an easy run Saturday and hopefully a nice 30-40 mile ride Sunday.
My Wife and I were at the Rumpuss in Bumpass this Sunday, and we saw the rented RV trailer parked alongside the building… Remembering how you rented an RV for the event last year, I thought for sure you had done it again this year. I almost went up and knocked on the door to see if I could meet you… But then later I read your race report and discovered you had stayed at a hotel. That could have been an awkward situation!
Training this weekend – doing the Tour Du Carroll.
This week-end I am travelling for work to San Francisco and planned to visit by running the full city, long hill here I come!
20 mile LSR on Sunday. It’s going be hot hot hot (for the UK at least) – yuk!
No real plans for Easter, got a torn meniscus waiting for surgery. So for me, it’s reading time :-)
Seb
Planned workout? Not a lot. Going on holiday with the family.
Minimum amount of choccy. Can’t afford the extra weight going up hills!
No funny easter stories but plan some swimming, a lot more running and whole lot of biking. Last big weekend before the season opener.
easter egg hunt with the kids
DC your the greatest. For those of us that are technologically challanged, you get us thru the day.
40 mile ride on Saturday, 10 mile run on Sunday before church.
I was five and dressed in my Easter dress ready to go to church. Mom let me go outside to the car (after a big rain) and found me sitting in a puddle of mud!
My planned workouts, if the weather conditions are ok, are
Swim (open waters fartlek series) -Bike (60 to 100km each day)
Run (strides and recovery races)
Plan to get a short run and a bike ride in, hopefully!
Great watch and dreat site!
Don’t have any funny Easter stories, but I plan on getting a 12 mile run in Sunday morning. Thanks for the giveaway!
Not sure about workout plans – I’ll be volunteering all weekend at a Tae Kwon Do tournament, though, supporting my friends!
Every year, my husband would receive an easter basket from his mother…and every year he would put the entire thing (candy and all) into a box marked “easter decorations”. After we got married, imagine my surprise when I discovered several years worth of old candy in that box! Nasty!
Easter was all ways at my grandparents house… They had a huge tree lined backyard. Well there was always this old station wagon parked in the back yard for storage i guess. One of my aunts decided to hide an Easter Egg in he exhaust pipe. My little cousin found it but by the time he retrieved the egg his entire arm was black from sticking his arm in the exhaust pipe!
Plan to swim saturday and sunday, then ride 45 mi sat and run 6mi on sunday.
Thanks again!
Sign me up please! I’ve been intrigued by all of your Garmin pieces. I may have to check them out further!
Soon off to Fuerteventura, Spain (from Sweden) for a week of Triathlon training. The only easter connection will be the breakfast omelette. That is my plan!
Sign me up! I need a new garmin! No running plans this weekend- we ave family in town– trying to load up the miles this week to prepare for the Easter bunny chocolate.
Well, not my own story but still. My mom once told me that when she was young she decided one year to decorate some eggs for Easter. So she took them from the fridge and painted them with a ton of really nice colors. She decided to hide them into her closet until Easter arrived.
Two things happened, first she dropped one on the floor and broke it, which was a bit sad. But the worst of all, she didn’t know that she had to empty them, so you can imagine the smell ;)
I just started triathalon training about 2 months ago. I used to race bicycle competitively. If only i could swim.
I would not mind a new watch. It would also be nice to run outside without a winter hat this weekend.
My 2 year old son keeps putting on the bunny ears is hopping around the house in anticipation of the Easter Bunny – Norman, the dog, doesn’t like the bunny ears so much. P.S. Finished a 5K in sub 20:00 accomplishing a major goal of mine:)
Plan a 2 hour ride with a short run Saturday and then Sunday is a 1 hour run. No bunny here.
Love your blog, even though been doing Tri’s for many years I still learn from your posts.
Thanks!
I’ve got a 35K long run planned this weekend, my longest training run yet, I’ve ran further during my first marathon, but still quite the distance.
And we have found chocolate in the cupboard 6 months after easter, wasn’t allowed to eat it :-(
Pick me you random generator.
Good job at Rumpass, any chance we’ll see a 610 cake? :)
No bunny here. Race preparation on saturday, bike race on sunday.
We hide eggs every year, but we never find all of them. Where do the lost eggs go? Maybe we need a congressional hearing! Please pick me, I can be random.
Never found a plastic egg some months later, but I did once find a real egg that had been used at an Easter egg hunt at my Grandmothers. Found under some brush that I was cleaning up. This was a few years after we had stopped having egg hunts at my Grandmothers, since all the grand children were now too old for the hunt. No telling how old the egg was.
Not really funny ha, ha, but… My wife, dog, and I are driving 14 hours to spend 28 hours with family in Ohio.
I have some swim work planned for the weekend. Really trying to get under 14 min. for my half mile time
I’m planning a nice 40 mile road ride on Saturday and an easy 15 mile trail ride, on the mtb bike, Sunday morning…
The Garmin FR610 looks great. Would great company on my runs!
Hoping to run 6m this weekend. Nothing much for the people on this forum, but I need to slowly ramp up again.
I have a 22 miler on Saturday morning in Ann Arbor in preparation for the Pittsburgh Marathon. Thanks
I don’t plan to see the Easter Bunny too much on my run this weekend. Looking forward to a down week. Today is 8 yassos, a swim thursday or friday, saturday will be an easy 8, and hopefully a ride on sunday. But who knows? It’s currently snowing in MN!
Hopefully a 10 mile run Saturday morning to make up for all the eating I’ll do in the afternoon/evening. Also, thanks for all of the giveaways!
Garmin 610 will be a great tool to have to prep for a marathon here in Western Australia, the long run will be this Easter sunday…
I plan on doing a 5 mile run on Saturday and a long relaxing bike ride on Sunday morning. Happy Easter!
I will try to take advantage of the weather while training before hunting the eggs
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A few years ago during Easter we still had our decorated Christmas tree standing in our living room. This was written in a newspaper with a short note about us.
Droffen
Count me in! Brick on Saturday, long slow run on Sunday…
No funny Easter stories, but plan to get a 10 mile run in between travel on Saturday. Headed to St. Louis to catch a Cardinals game. I wonder how long or if anyone has attempted to run from KC to St. Louis? That would be intersting!