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.
So far I have spent the entire weekend relaxing with the love of my life who has served in the military for 21 years!
Heading down to the jersey sure, stopping the kids fighting and trying to get a run in
Running Saturday. Brick on Sunday. Buy a Wee Hoo I Go trailer for my year old. Something fun on Monday.
Love the website! Thanks for all the great information!
Huge family party–pig roast, everyone brings their special dish to share! Mom brings her famous macaroni salad, my sister makes her taco salad…
I ran 15 yesterday, made chicken curry today, and tomorrow’s a normal work day (the college I work for is still in session, so we don’t get the day off). Anyway, thanks for the consistently great content!
Work work work all day long! oye!
Unfortunately, I’m stuck working through the holiday weekend. I just got back from deployment and can’t wait to make up for the lost training and catching up on all of the posts that I missed.
Just some work around the house
Weekend Plans ~ We spent time with some family that came from out of town. Tomorrow we plan on a family bike ride if the weather hold out. Awesome Giveaway!!!
The weekend is not looking good for my half marathon training as I stood on my Garmin 310xt and broke it beyond all repair. A Garmin 610 to replace it would lift my spirits and help continue with my training goals. I feel lost without my GPS!!
mourning the loss of my grandmother :(
Timeout with the grandkids
Timeout with the grandkids, bike ride sunday morning. Approaching winter here in NZ, so layering up.
I spent a great weekend in Prague;)
6 mile run, and went to church on Sunday
Memorial Day in Afghanistan, hopefully I’ll find time for a run.
Plan on relaxing (on Monday)!! Saturday did a 14 mile run…Sunday a 16 mile bike ride…Time to relax!!
Also, definitely did BBQ last night (Sunday)…Yum….baby back ribs!!
Babysitting your on kids on a marvellous weekend makes you glad your bikes in the shop – no regrets for missing the ride!! And no trouble from the other half…..
I’m in South Africa so we don’t have an official holiday – but we do have the Wacky Wine Weekend in Robertson. A perfectly acceptable reason to spend all weekend consuming copious amounts of quality wine. I will be in Robertson, all weekend, on a wine farm having a blast. And I really really want that Garmin!! ;)
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Birthday weekend!
The weekend is almost over, and I’ve succeeded in doing one thing only: procrastinating.
Time with kids, 9 mile long run, cut the grass, steaks on the grill, sippin on some gin & tonics.
Just back from a weekend of fun in St. Augustine Florida for a friends wedding. Great traithletes there!
going for a run in the dc heat!
Dear DC Rainmaker,
It’s almost over, so my entry is part past, part future :)
Saturday was nothing much as my wife has the virus I’m just at the end of. Sunday nanny and granddad came round and we built my son a huge train track, then I sat and did colouring in with them in the evening. Which he loved. Today I took both kids to the shops (Cole 3 years, Emmie 7 years). We got eggs, butter and decorations. Then came home and made cakes. Been desperate to get out for a run, but what with the virus and bad back, not been able to. However, this afternoon I’m going out, so looking forward to it! I’m currently using a £5.87 stopwatch from amazon, so the Garmin would come in very useful! I’m doing mudrunner in October! :)
My plans involve my in laws and a real long run… really long run.
A little yoga, some running and swimming + great weather = a pretty sweet holiday weekend =)
I’m taking some time off and enjoying time with the family.
I live in Israel so my weekend started on Friday.
I ran a 10K on Friday and took the family to the beach on Saturday.
That’s my weekend…
As every weekend: Friday I will start with a swimm period and saturday or sunday (depends on the weather) I will do a long bike ride (about 50 – 60 miles)
Riding, mowing the lawn and of course a BBQ at a neighbor’s house with tons of lawn games and beer!
My friday post didn’t work :-s
At Friday i bought new Runningshoes. At Saturday and Sunday i was relaxing and of cours i run and bike a little bit. Finaly at Sunday evening i had a hugh BBQ while celebrating the Birthday of my Girlfriend. To bad i gain ofer 1 kg of weight this Weekend. ^^
Hey, been reading your blog about a year now. I enjoy every one. Thank you.
Just spending some rare at home time with my wife and kids.
Well I set a PR on a 5k this weekend along with getting in a long run. The rest of the weekend just eating and resting. Really enjoy reading your blog and your reviews!!!
My ancient Timex watch has died. I have been running carrying my Blackberry Torch to track workouts. A watch like this would be a heck of step of up and probably lighter! This weekend, I will be taking the dog for a run or two, taking my older daughter to the playground, and building a sandbox!
Me too.
Marathon training on Saturday, 5K on Monday, and 2 BBQs with friends…all in all a great weekend!
Going riding and installing a ceiling fan. May is too soon for AC.
Plan on spending the day with my family. Maybe some swimming, grilling and just overall fun! Happy Memorial Day! A big THANK YOU to all those that serve, have served and have given their lives for our country!
Would love a 610!
Here in Germany we have Thursday off, Friday is a regular workday for most folks, but I will take holiday on friday. I hope my FOUR-day-weekend will not disqualify me for your giveaway ;-) I will spent the weekends with some friends at a local sea here in Augsburg. Grilling and BBQ-Sauce and many steaks included.
Best regards. Bernd
Just did a 10mile race in 1:09 – now moving on to the Amsterdam Marathon. I could well use some digital assistance!
I’m spending my long weekend doing mostly mundane things–much-delayed spring cleaning, hanging out with friends, and walking the dog.
I allready got one. But my Tony Chachere’s seasoning is allmost done. So give me the BBQ sauce. Jasper (Netherlands)
SUC6
Nice
Oh blessed holiday weekend. Friday 5k. Saturday glutony. Sunday rest and Monday work!
Getting over some knee problems but looking to get training soon :)
Run, bike and run! It is raining like hell in this part of the world, but …
Waiting eagerly for the Polar RCX5 review. It seems like the new heart rate monitor is going to be either FR610 or the RCX5. Might as well invest the coming summer job money to own well being.
Thursday is a holiday here in Denmark, and I plan to race that day. Friday is work, and then I plan easy training saturday, followed by a half-ironman specific brick with a turbo trainer bike ride, since I’m on call and have to be at a computer if stuff happens, within 15-20 minutes. So it’ll kind of suck yet be epic, spending 2.5-3 hours on the turbo.
I am moving from Estonia to Nashville, TN for the summer. And right now i am recovering from 66km run last friday.
Work, work, work, and hopefully a little run somewhere in the middle.
Bikes, Beers and Brats!
This weekend, like all the weekends before this and all the foreseeable weekends to come, I will be looking after our adorable baby girl: watching over her while she crawls around everywhere attempting to get into mischief; taking her on a massive walk around our local suburbs (I really need a GPS watch so I don’t get lost!); washing nappies; changing nappies; oh, and changing some more nappies… :)
Hi, I spent the weekend with the family, got my running done on Mondayafternoon, in the blazing Dutch sun with 30C!
I love the garmin 305, I know I would love the 610 even more!
Greetings
Runner Gerard
i ran 5 miles sat. was sick all day yesterday, and am recovering today. planning a run tomorrow too!!
melroll
Three days off means three runs. Had my family over for a BBQ too.
Will be running a 5K race on thursday. Would be nice with a BBQ after that but that will probably have to wait a couple of days.
Hi!
I’ll be running on the treadmill (10k) on Friday evening.
Saturday barbecue and crossfit.
Sunday, going for a relaxed bike ride to the beach, the bike as more than 50 years old…
While trying to get some work done!
Great Blog!! keep it up! best of luck
Flack
Ran my last long run before Western States 100 on Saturday. Ran a solo 50 mile training run w/ about 13,000ft elevation gain.
Sunday relaxed at home with my family and friends. And today (monday) I am in Studio working on my final Studio project. I am graduating on Saturday w/ a BFA in Product Design.
Thanks for your great reviews and product feedback. Good luck at Boise 70.3
open water swim in the intercoastal waterway, and a few stone IPA’s!
Just me & my CompuTrainer plus the latest addition ct-ANT+!
My time will be spent running many miles and drinking many micro beers.
This Memorial Day weekend revolved for me around the Run to Remember half marathon I ran here in Boston on Sunday to honor fallen law enforcements officers in Massachusetts. My wife and one of our daughters ran the concurrent 5-mile race. Saturday was reserved for picking up the racing bibs, a very light workout, and we easily polished off a wonderful lunch of hiyashi chūka, a cold noodle dish popular in Japan during the warmer months.
Race day was humid and the temperature started climbing early, and still everyone was happy with their results. It’s become our custom on race days to order in dinner, and everyone enjoyed the evening’s Thai feast that started with Tom Yom soup with seafood and rice noodles.
Monday was set aside for recovery and evaluating the race to see what I might do differently. Conclusion: do more race specific tempo runs. The holiday meal was codfish cooked in a medley of vegetables, seasoned with capers, a couple of dashes of Tabasco, salt and pepper, and served with brown rice. Dessert was well chilled watermelon. Working to build up an appetite certainly makes foods taste even better. Matt
Just finished a marathon which I used as a pacing run of sorts for my ultra next month. Ran without my 310xt as it was sent in for repair (cracked front screen) =(
Spent the weekend on the Crystal Coast in Emerald Isle NC. Beautiful weather for biking, running, sunning, and relaxing. Hope everyone had a great and safe Memorial Day.
Going to the beach Sunday and long run Sunday morning!!! BBQ on Monday!!!
Besides a couple of runs and a nice bike run this past weekend, also went to a BBQ with the family on Sunday and had ribs, hot dogs, and pasta salad with some Mortal Combat on the XBox.
Get stuff done around the house and go for a long (for me) run
This was my first weekend after my dissertation defense on Friday! I spent it relaxing, hiking, planning my wedding in less than 3 weeks, and doing everything BUT think about school for the first time in many, many years!
You are so kind and generous! I spent my Canadian long weekend relaxing relaxing relaxing. And watching The Simpsons with a friend.
in corna del mar doing R&R watching everyone else cycle
To late to talk about plans now.
Gotta watch for these giveaways more closely! Awesome reviews!
thank you for writing this blog, its wonderful
Thanks Ray for the giveaway… Always generous of you. I had a great holiday weekend in Seattle – thankfully not a lot of rain. The nice weather allowed me to spend the weekend training hard for the upcoming Ironman Couer D’Alene on June 26th. As for the giveaway – I’d love to win the new Garmin Forerunner 610 which I would re-gift for my brother who has just started training for his first triathlon…. at age 48. It would be an awesome training gift.
Thanks!
My guide in the world of GPS sport watches, great website!
Frederik
Great blog! Read about the 310xt before i bought one a back in 2009.
Hello, just came back from Three Lakes Wisconsin where my parents have had a cottage for decades. I was able to get a 50 and 25 road ride in during Saturday and Sunday. Beautiful roads.
Lance
zeewagon@gmail.com
My weekend plan: avoid all chores, and avoid getting into trouble with wife.
Oh and thanks for writing the best reviews on merchandise…and life!
Had a braai (South African BBQ) planned for Friday. Unluckily it was postponed to Tuesday so we spent the evening at the movies. Saturday I saw the Cheethas suffer a defeat at the hands of the bulls in an ice cold Pretoria. As always Sunday was for recovery and eating!
No plans. Recovering from a broken clavicula.
Hi, I’m planning a long MTB trip with a pack of friends in a National Park which is near my place. With my 3 year old daughter on the back seat, so it will be double fun with uphills :). So I have a personal pacemaker hitting my back when I ride too slow…
Plus some running, but easy as I have a 1/2M next Sunday.
No BBQ plans, but still hoping for some invitation from friends…
Cheers!
leszek (at) nsense [.] net
My weekend included driving 8+ hours from Cleveland to Charlottesville, VA to see my nephew graduate from high school followed by an 8+ hour return trip! Then Monday was time for me – a long run for my upcoming Mayor’s half marathon in Alaska! Hope you had a great weekend as well. Thanks to your Garmin review, I ran out and purchased one and my training has benefitted tenfold!
I did some gardening and barbequing!
Down in Adelaide with the in laws – running in Adelaide
Going running through the Belair national park
Family time in another city :o)
Morning runs and walks and lazy afternoons
I spent my Memorial day eating good BBQ!
Hi Ray
We had a lot of fun at the pool with the kids. Finally the water is warm enough to spend all day at the pool.
I also lost my FR60 last week.
Your giveaway must be a good sign right?
My wife and i and our girls are visiting my nephew and his family for a celebration of his submission of the final thesis of his study in History of Religion. Well done after 10 years away from studying.
Did I mention that we are all going to barbecue?
Played jarts this weekend! Real metal tips!
spent the weekend running and riding early to beat the heat… the hung out with the family. Great weather here in OHIO!
No long weekend in this part of the world. Spent it studying, running and doing housework. And a party! Not a barbecue, but since we had torrential rains and some flooding, that’s was definitely a good thing.