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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.
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
japan fukui snow
First full ironman race Beach2Battleship 2010. Water temp was around 58 degrees. Stupid first timer mistake of wearing a half sleeve wetsuit with no neoprene cap on the head and weighing in at 140lbs with no fat on me. I got out of the water not knowing where the hell I was and could not respond to the questions they were asking me. They through me in the hot showers and fed me hot chicken stock. It added some time to my swim total of 1:59:02 but kept on trucking and finished the race with a 12:02 total. Came back the next year to redeem myself and wearing a full wetsuit with neoprene booties and cap and a total time of 10:30:04.
did a polar bear plungle at 22F air temp. But did a 20 mile hike at 5F in the boy scout days.
Coldest so far this year has been 18 F. Of course, that makes 32 F seem balmy!
Last year on my way to join my Saturday ride group, my bike slipped on black ice and I fell on my left hip. I had a 4 inch contusion for over 1 month. Not a pretty sight :( However, I was still able to complete my 3 hr ride. Cheers.
Ran intervals in 10* yesterday in KCMO. It wasn’t too bad once we got going.
This week was the coldest I’ve ever run in. 5 degrees with -16 wind chill. Crazy cold!
This past Christmas. It was -27C in Saskatchewan but I NEEDED a break from the Inlaws!
The coldest run I did was last year at Redondo Beach. I know this won’t be cold for many of you but it was roughly 45F and it was raining. Because I’m stupid and hard headed, I ran without any cold gear. I only wore my trustee runner’s shorts and my Nike compression short sleeve shirt. I figured I’d feel warm after the first mile. Needless to say, I ran for 8 miles and by the time I got to my car, my fingers were already turning blue. The car’s heater was the BEST fireplace I have ever had.
I lived in AK for awhile… coldest run bottomed my thermometer out at -25 but there was a breeze… i was bundled and covered and had an aboslutely glorious run of 75 min feeling like I was getting away with the best thing ever! i love the cold! have a great time in Europe!
Coldest run for me was in -9c windchill in Shanghai. Not the coldest by far for most people, but for an Aussie…. brrrrrrrrrr!!!!
Bundled up and did a 30 min brick run in -25C. Any longer I would have froze right through!
It’s always cold here in Michigan, but we dress appropriately to combat it. Though it’s always fun to show up at the wintertime races and see someone running in just shorts (no shirt) when it’s sub-freezing temps!
I live in the Midwest and refuse to run on a treadmill – so I’ve learned to love winter running. I think my coldest was a 5 degree day on the lake in Chicago with 30mph winds. That was fun…
-10 to -25C is regular for Canadian winter runs.
I live in Southern California so my coldest swim, bike, run experiences are not all that harrowing. 35 degree seems to be my lowest for each (air temp – not water temp). My coldest swim was a practice swim for IMCDA last year – water was a little below 55 and my face and hands were not at all happy.
5F in Canada last weekend
My coldest race had to be the 2009 Rocket City Marathon. 42*, misting rain and 15-20 mph headwind. The “7 hour +” handwarmers I had would only heat for 5 minutes. My fingers were so cold that when I got a rock in my shoe I couldn’t untie the laces and had to ask a course volunteer to untie the shoe and dump the rock.
Single digit Saturday about 2 weeks ago with at 15-25mph north wind. I was intending to ride about 60 miles and at mile 30 I met up with a group. About 5 miles into the last stretch we started getting pelted with sleet and freezing rain. We only persisted about another 8 miles or so. Had on every piece of high quality winter gear I owned and if it weren’t for the embrocation I was wearing, I would have been miserable. That would be a good post for you to do. Embrocation 101.
Running in Minnesota and South Dakota I did many -10 to -20F runs. I know with windchill added in they ended up being -40F to -60F. This week it was 2F with the windchill being -20F so it was not that bad.
Coldest run in Rio this Summer: 35ºC on cloudy day last Thursday.
i recently did a long run on a super cold day here in LA. I thought I might die. It was in the high 30s!! I almost had to dig my tights out of storage. Thank goodness I found my gloves or my fingers might have gotten really really cold!
Run in the 50’s with rain and without jacket but hey i live in Cali
Living in LA, my coldest run so far was on a business trip in Milwaukee about a year ago – there was about 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground, and it was still snowing. It was a far cry from the 78F I ran in on Sunday…
It was the winter of 1998 and I was in the Army Reserves. We did a training run of a couple of miles in low single digit weather with 10 to 15 mph wind gusts. On top of that we were wearing the old PT uniforms: cotton sweatpants, cotton t-shirt, cotton zip up hoodie. No hat, no gloves, and sooooooooo cold.
Coldest run was just yesterday in Paris below 30 degrees. Looking forward to the southeast where temps will reach in the 70’s next week.
Would kayaking count? Paddled in a 14 degree celsius race course in Japan, but due to the windy condition, temperature dropped to 10 degree celsius. By the time training ended, my kayaking partner and I were both shivering till we changed out of our training clothes.
The coldest run that sticks out in my memory is when my wife and I were training for our first half marathon. It was a morning with single digits and our small Kansas town had shutdown because of a massive amount (for us) of snow that had fallen the night before. We layered up and decided to brave it anyways. A little over a quarter of the way out, we had run past the plowed areas. A little over half way out, we ran into the plows coming towards us.
We were cold, tired, slightly confused, and half blind from the frosty icicles forming on our eye lashes. I think the plows were just confused to see runners out? The plows stopped. We ended up heading for the ditch, trying to do knee-high’s through the drifts and eventually heading back up to the road after the plows had passed… I’m pretty sure we looked crazy…
At least the run back was on freshly plowed roads :)
Before I started running or cycling, I was in Boy Scouts and camped a lot. On a camporee(large gathering of multiple troops) in early September, we enjoyed 70’s for both Friday and Saturday, a little bit warmer than the norm for September in Maryland. Saturday evening, however, brought wind. Strong wind. Tents blowing away wind. After taking to the tents to escape the wind, we awoke to sub-freezing temperatures and snow; several tents had an inch of water in the floor. Not only did we awake unprepared to the unpredicted weather, we found that every single troop had left during the night, and we were the last ones there. For our fortitude, the event organizer gave us the snacks and drinks that were left over from everyone’s early departure; our meetings were well supplied for the net few weeks.
fair weather runner here. Coldest/wettest/windiest run was during the CIM during this past Dec. Constant rain for the first 25 miles.
Somehow my runs are never cold as I normally wear a thousands layer even in sommer, but last weekend in Amsterdam I felt like I was walking permafrost. I even walked behind other pedestrians to stay in their slightly warmer slipstream. Crazy how unreal cold can be.
coldest run in our part of the world would be considered a fair weather run in yours Ray. nevertheless, the coldest run i’ve experienced was when my running buddy had bloodied nipples after our run, he IS a male runner =)
My coldest bike ride was when I was doing my club’s annual ride in Tahoe, Cali. Since I’ve only been biking for two years and both years were spent hiding away in the comfort of my home, I had no prior experience to dressing right. SO, I showed up in a long sleeve base layer, jersey, and shorts thinking that it was just going to be like the warm beaches of southern California. It was -15 degrees Fahrenheit. At first my extremities felt like needles were being stuck through them. Then they became so numb, that I felt like an amputee, with non-existent ears, hands (wasn’t wearing gloves), and feet. I honestly felt like Gary Paulsen racing the Iditarod. My hands had a slightly blue hue but I mushed through it and it was pretty nice, layer of ice freezing on my water bottle, blue hands, excruciating pain in my ears.
Coldest swim was in boy scouts last year, Sequoia National Park. There was still ice thawing in the lake and my friend didn’t believe that I would swim. I came back to camp blue, shivering, teeth clattering. And with $20.
Probably today, but I must admit my memory is far from great!
i once ran in -15°C in berlin. especially stoping at the traffic lights was very uncomfortable!
I lived in MN back in 1993 and ran throughout December. I left at Christmas and then it really got cold in January. Pretty cold for this boy from the south.
It’s been -40 here since last weekend, and it actually seemed warm today at -30 C. Does running to and from my car count? :)
Coldest run in the chilean Patagonia. Must of been the fastest also, because no matter how fast I ran, I still couldn’t get rid of the cold!
My favorite cold weather running memory is my first winter run in California after moving from Utah. No longer do I need to watch out for ice, snow slush salt puddles, or try to determine how much it’s going to warm up during my run so I don’t wear too much or to few layers.
My coldest run was on Tuesday. Minus 3 degrees F (-20C). My face and hat were iced up. Fortunately it was only 3 miles.
-30 degree plus wind this week. I had the bad idea to stop by my sister in law to drink a little and well, you know, i started to play games with the kids… Cant tell you how cold and stupid it is to get out again 15 minutes later in sweat… had to run 6 km… wont do that again!
On this past Christmas Eve day we ran our local Reindeer Run in 10 below – that’s -10 F
I live in Sweden, on the same latitude as northern Canadian territories and Alaska…
Wintertime I run in the cold and near total darkness all the time… The conditions people brag or “whine” ;o) about here is part of my everyday routine…
Northern Ontario. Temps were about 0 and I was wearing every running shirt I had with for the layered effect. Luckily there was little wind to deal with.
swimming in the cold pool early morning growing up!
I live in So Cal, so even my cold runs aren’t that cold. My snowboarding honeymoon at Whistler-Blackcomb was super cold though. I grew up in Colorado, but snowboarding there was nothing compared to the cold in Canada!
Coldest weather in a while in the NoVa area. Running in YakTrax today.
Going for a run the morning after a night out at Lake Tahoe over New Year.COLD!!!
I remember a winter hiking trip when i was in college. we spent the night camping and it was -20 out.
In Kalamazoo Michigan at 10:30pm, it was 7 F with 8″ of new snow. No wind and not a car on the road. So peaceful and quiet! Only person I saw in a 5 mile run was another runner.
My coldest run ever definitely occurred this winter where I went out for a hilly five miles recently on sunny, windy day at 5 degrees F. I wasn’t miserable though thanks to my silk baklava, a solid base layer, a windproof jacket and chemical hand warmers. However, when I got back I found that my stomach had somehow gotten frostbite. I’m not sure if my shirt came untucked or just how that occurred, nothing else suffered besides my gut. I guess it was sticking out in the wind more than the rest of me.
Minus three degrees, but no wind to speak of!
Last week I visited Arizona expecting Arizona weather so I didn’t pack for a 20 degree run. I ended up running 3/4 mile to the local gym in shorts and a long sleeve shirt. By the time I arrived my face was so numb I didn’t notice snot dripping down my face. That lady at the front desk offered me a paper towel before she’d sign me in.
I just started running. I live in the south so I don’t have to run in extreme cold as some of you folks up north. My coldest run was around 35-40 deg. F in Knoxville last weekend.
This morning, -8 C running on icy / snowy trail in Maryland.
This MLK day I started my run at 2 deg F. By the time I finished, it was all the way up to 3 deg F. Awesome!
I’m not a fan of running in the cold – maybe 45 F was the coldest for me.
i was riding bike and water in bottle got frozen.
Either Christmas Eve or Christmas day 2011 I ran in MN in below zero temps PLUS 20 mph winds.
Coldest bike was about -8c…I couldn’t feel my face.
Deciding to go to school in Alberta was a great idea. Starting to run out here wasn’t the best idea. One day I ran out in -40 degrees. I feel like if I can run in that cold, I can run anytime. It took a lot of warming up to get used to. While doing that, I said to myself, “I might as well just try some extreme snow running.” It was totally a blast and during this run, the last thing I was thinking about was the distance because it was so cold it was getting to my head. I understand why they have a half-marathon out here called the Hypothermic Half. I wish you could all feel my pain, but I still love it. Long live running.
My coldest run to date: I started on a semi long run at -10°C with mild wind and some leftover daylight. When the sun dropped so did the temperature to -35°C with a strong wind.
My coldest run was this week! -25C.
Not very good! next time I’ll run on the treadmill!
Long winter run in a heavy snowstorm in 1983 however halfway through the snow turned to a heavy soaking rain.
Earlier this week- long run in negative 15 Fahrenheit windchill. And I forgot the body glide. Enough said.
I am a wuss about the cold. My unwritten rule is that if it’s under 25°F,I run on an indoor track.
I ran my coldest run of this season yesterday. At 7 degrees with a -6 WC, it wasn’t my coldest ever, but it was cold enough to make me start day dreaming mid-run of a steamy hot shower. It had just snowed overnight and the flakes were dry so they were super sparkly in the light from my headlamp. It was almost enough to take my mind off the fact that my fingers were going numb.
Not the coldest ride posted here by a long shot, but 2 deg C made for some very chilly descents!
I generally bundle up when running – but hard to do that when swimming. Jumped into the water for a practice swim at Ironman Arizona and the cold water (maybe 59 or 60 degrees) just about took my breath away. Didn’t think I’d be able to get through it the next day for the Ironman. Turns out I was wrong. The day of the race I guess adrenaline kicked in since the water never felt that cold and I had a great swim, and finished my first Ironman. Norseman anyone?
Not many cold days in southern california, but got down to the 30’s a couple of weeks ago.
Coldest run so far was last Sunday morning here in Indiana. Temperature was about 17 deg F with about a 10 deg windchill. Probably the best run I’ve had all winter!
While training for my first marathon, I did a 14 mile run in 5deg F. I was fine until I bonked at mile 12 and the ear band of my beanie was frozen through with sweat. Couldn’t wait to get out there and try it again. X-Country skiing in -5 was a lot of fun too.
My coldest run…1986, Active Duty USAF, stationed at Boerfink MTK, Germany (West Germany back then). I have no clue what the temp was…just damn cold and I wasn’t dressed for it. I expected I would warm up once I got running…I think I warmed up about a week later!!
I ran a local Polar Dash this year on Jan 1st. It was -4F at race start. Took a mile before my feet thawed out!
January last year in -12C and windy. Every once in a while a good gust would take your breath away. Not nice.
My cycling team hosts a Winter Ride Challenge series with a weekly ride from January to March. Points are alloted based on the lowest posted temperature with extra points for single speeds, etc. Last Sunday it was -28C with winds gusting up to 90km/h. Being a 5′ tall woman weighing 100 pounds I was not a happy camper.
My coldest run was the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. It was about 25F here in West Virginia. I was surprised that I did not feel that cold!
This is my first season running outdoors this time of year (ran on the dreadmill through the winter last year), so a week or so ago was my coldest run. My nose was running like crazy, it felt like no matter what direction I was in, I was running against the arctic wind, etc. Like the big wuss that I am, I spent the rest of the week on the indoor track.
Well, it’s pretty cold here. It’s been in the single digits for weeks now. I wish I could say that I’ve been brave enough to venture out in those temps, but sadly no. I stopped running outside when the temperature hit about 30F. The temp is slowly rising now, so maybe I’ll be able to venture out again soon!
Coldest run was in Harbin, China. It was so cold my camera batteries froze and my camera wouldn’t work!! eep!
Would love a new garmin to keep me company on my runs! Thanks!
2 days ago in Arlington, VA – where just last week it was 50 deg, and then it was all of sudden 15 deg.
thank goodness for running partners who don’t take any excuses. (and whom provided proof with a link to the national weather service windchill chart…that I wasnt going to get frostbite)
Sylamore 50k in February! Snow on the ground and a creek to cross made it sucky! I did not finish that race and it is on my list to go back and run!
My coldest run was reading about your coldest run. The biggest temperature drop I experienced during a run was from 58º to 48º in about an hour one recent morning. It doesn’t get that cold here in Central Florida.
Going to school in Chicago. Ran out 3 mi and when I flipped to come home, I realized the wind was now at my face…2*F My face was hurting so bad that I had to stop at a grocery store on the way home and walk around the store until I defrosted. Not smart!
Ran the past saturday with my normal long running group. This run though was to celebrate one of our good friends who is fighting colon cancer. It was 30* which is cold for us normally but had some added disadvantages. On a 11 mile run the first water fountain (anti freeze water fountain) was frozen and all the bridges had to be slowly walked over because they were frozen over!
During my service in the Marine Corps, my unit was doing some cold weather training in Bowling Green, Va. Being from California,this was definitely the coldest weather I had experienced at that point! So military food being what it is, I took it upon myself to do a 6 mile run off base to the nearby Pizza Hut! I took up a collection, headed out on my run, and brought back a few pizzas! Yes, the pizzas were packaged up in foil to all fit in my pack! It was great!
My coldest run this year was 38*F, but I live in Phoenix so thats gotta be equivalent to -30 for someone that doesnt live in the desert.
Having never done cold season cycling before, i had miscalculated my heart production. On that memorable ride day I had ended up doing a 42km route alongside water in near 0C with strong winds. Of course, I only realized when I was exactly halfway through and returning would as long as going through that I could not only feel my toes but also my hands. I felt like a magical force was steering my bike. Yikes. Lessons learned.
A couple year ago I went for a run in Minneapolis during the blizzard that collapsed the Metrodome. The snow went above my knees, and I was gassed after the 1-mile run.
In my first year of running I registered to run the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler. During a run in the snow when I was almost run down by a snowplow I realized the foolhardiness of training for an early April race while living in central Pennsylvania. Now I live in Georgia so even the cold runs are not that cold.
I live in Boston and run outside no matter the temperature. This past week I ran in -20 degrees (with the windchill factor added). I dress in layers and put vaseline on my face. The only problem is that my water freezes even when I boil it before…tough to do long runs without hydration:)
a zombie themed race event took place at night under the rain last year. it was the coldest and literally CHILLY run that i have run… the following day, flu. what to expect?
9 May 2010. New England Season Opener Sprint Tri. With the wind chill, temps were in the mid- to upper-40s °F. Wind was 19mph with gusts up to 47mph. Near tears, I called my husband to bring me a pair of long tights to wear during the bike. Conditions were bearable in my longsleeve wetsuit, but it wasn’t comfortable and I just wanted to get started. My wave entered the water for a deep in water start and treaded water for longer than usual, drifting toward the first turn buoy all the while. We were called back to shore. Water temps were much warmer than the air, so this was a bummer. While we were standing on the beach, the boat with the EMTs was swamped by those in the water who needed assistance! Needless to say, the swim was cancelled for my wave and the last two. We’d gotten wet for no good reason and started our event with T1. With difficulty, I tugged on long layers over my wet body and headed out for a chilly, windy ride. The amusing part of the whole day was running on feet that felt like blocks of wood! This resolved just after mile 1, but I couldn’t feel all of my toes until mile 2. I chatted with folks who hadn’t worn long tights on the bike and they said they couldn’t feel their legs during the run. Learned to always pack “just in case” layers in my transition bag. Still can’t believe I keep signing up for this event! :-D
running in wellington, hailed on me. hurt the old bald spot badly
I live in California and until recently I’ve only trained in good weather. If it was cold, I wouldn’t go out. Then I joined Team In Training to prepare for Ironman Tahoe and we train no matter how cold it is! So the last couple of weeks have been a series of firsts – first time looking out for ice on the bike, first time using shoe covers, first time wearing a fleece beenie under my helmet, etc. I know that’s nothing compared to most people, but it’s cold for me!
Well the coldest run i have had! was last winter in Montreal!
I was running with the running room and we met to have our run on sunday but it was -25 C plus there was wind! I can tell you that wind makes a difference. Basically, my face got to a point in which it froze and i couldn’t feel it anymore. coming back home, to my surprise, something was broken and therefore there was no hot water!!! so i had to shower with extremely cold water! anyhow! crazy things we do just for the love to run!
I biked in the snow when the temperature was 10 degrees and 20 mph of wind in northern Ohio. Hands and feet froze, but it was even worse when I forgot to wear thermal foot covers. and only three layers.
It was really really cold and that is all I remember.
My coldest run was during an early season sprint triathlon two years ago. The race was “interesting” in that each age group wasn’t allowed to enter the water until the group ahead completely finished the swim. (It was a small race…less than 500 entries.) I stood on the shore freezing for 1 hr 45 minutes before entering the water, and then the water was so cold I couldn’t catch my breath. I was wet, cold and miserable on the bike, and cold on the run! The race director sent an email later that day saying that the course was marked wrong, and that it was much longer than it was supposed to be… Lol!
It wasn’t that cold but I was running after one of the once every few years snow storms in Raleigh NC. Suffice to say I think Midwestern drivers are a lot nicer (and safer) than those down here.