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.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
-
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.
Outdoor hilly ride Saturday, total time: 3.5hrs, Zone 3/4
Work: 10 x 3′ uphill – Roll back for recovery
Then 3 x 5′ strong/5′ spin – flatish – eg; Slcoal TT loop.
Start and finish w/ 4 x 30″/30″ fast legs.
1 hour z2 bike @ 15 minutes, 3 interval sets of (5m z4 followed by 3m spin)
Tomorrow I plan to cycle my 10k in the morning and 10k in the afternoon. The planned HR zone is 60-70%, as this is one of my first workouts after a nasty flu. Goal is to keep the impact low and start slow. Hope to fill the recovery time after with extensive walking and enjoying being out again.
Knee injury on both legs stopped me for a while, but my physical therapist told me to try to run over the pain a bit as long the pain is not raising too much.
So I will do a 3 mins warmup – 26 min at 5:30-5:40 pace (min/km) and a smooth 3 minute cool down.
Cheers,
Daniel
Just a 5-miler on Saturday. Fighting through Achilles problems, so nothing too hard :)
I am doing a 4.5 hour ride with the last hour at threshold, then a 40 minute run at threshold/race effort with the last 15 minutes at 5k pace
Tomorrow I’m hoping to have the first outdoor (after months indoor) horse riding training of the year thanks for the first reasonably sunny days and during next week as snow finally melted away, I’ll get the winter dust off from my bike and start going to work riding it again.
I am just aiming to get some distance in this weekend. Looking forward to a two hour-ish run.
The snow has finally melted.
It is getting warmer.
Marathon season is closing in :-)
Getting back to running after 2 years on and off with an ITBS problem. So just building up the distance and speed. Got a nice 10k loop part road and off road that I’ll do on Sat.
City of London Interval Course – Creative interval training on the way home from the office.
1) Start at office (near Tower Bridge) and run around half mile warm up to the Millenium Bridge Steps. (1)
2) 10 reps of full effort sprints up the steps to the bridge. Jog back down.
3) Run across bridge to south side of the river and run along the river towards the Royal Festival Hall. (1)
4) On the Bank outside the hall do laps of ‘run 400m, 200m easy’. Repeat 6 times, up and down the South Bank. (2.25)
5) Continue along the river and cross Westminster Bridge, past the houses of Parliament, and into St. James Park. (1)
6) Run 1 full lap of the lake in the park at fast pace. Rest for 2 minutes. (1)
7) Run around Green Park, into Hyde Park and around to Lancaster Gate (St. James, Green and Hyde Park all connect)
8) Continue up the road to home. (3.5, Total just under 10 Miles)
9) Warm Down.
10) Eat LARGE bowl of Sausage and Mash.
11) Collapse into Bed!
On Saturday I’ll be doing one lap of the Challenge Roth bike course on my Tacx trainer (i-Flow), at the same intensity I held in a half-ironman bike last summer. This will be a good indicator of where my bike fitness is.
In the winter I really enjoy RLVs as they make the experience enjoyable. I pick a video based on what I want to accomplish and the video dictates the effort; no mental work required. Tuesdays are VO2Max intervals, so I look for short rolling hills. Saturdays are longer tempo work, so I choose mountain passes. On easy days I’ll pick a flat course.
No sense being burnt out from doing too many 2x20s before even being able to ride outside.
I’ll consider upgrading to a Wahoo Kickr if the software turns out great, but in the meantime I could really use a 910XT. :)
35 mile hilly route bicycle ride
This one is from TrainerRoad, I did it last week and killed me at my new FTP (that’s what I get for bragging)
Ride is called “The Thumb”
WU: 20 min
10min easy ride, 3 min at FTP, 2 x 1 min 100% and 120% FTP, clearing
MS: 10x 3min 105% FTP to 120% FTP, 4 min recovery in between
CD:4 min easy ride.
It will be done this Saturday.
Frosty 5K race on Sunday, March 3. Hope it does not snow. And maybe in the evening a short 45min bike ride on the bike trainer.
Well…..
Saturdays workout is my commute to work. On the way there, gentle Z1 warm up for 4 miles followed by around 250yds of submarine style paddling through a flooded road, hoping my BB30 doesn’t fill up with water (that’s if it isn’t frozen solid when I will need to go into icebreaker mode). Then 500 yds of recovery interval (AKA 2-3mph hoping not to fall off on the ice). A hilly 5 miles in Z2 followed by urban traffic light/roundabout Z4-Z5 sprints into the middle of Birmingham, UK avoiding taxis and buses. 8 hour recovery interval (or ‘work’ as it’s called) followed by 20 mile reversal of above route, in dark, and hoping for a tailwind to counteract the inevitable headwind from the morning’s ride.
Stu
My plan is to run 20K on sunday.
1.5 Hour Long Steady Distance Run on Saturday.
1 hour indoor cycliing:
10min wu;
10min Z2;
10min just below anaerobic treshold;
5min recovery;
10min just below anaerobic treshold;
15min wd.
The dreaded 30 minute FTP Test!!!
I have a nice 4.5km 6% hill on my ride home. I plan to ride it in pyramid intervals: 1 minute on, 30 seconds bottom gear recovery, 2 minutes on, 1 minute recovery, 3 minutes on, 1.5 minute recovery, 4 minutes on, max effort for as long as I can hold it. That’ll be the top of that hill — if I don’t die first. 4 minutes recovery spin, which will take me to a false flat. Then I’ll reverse those intervals. And roll gently home.
I’m a Spinning Instructor so my days goes something like this tomorrow (Friday):
5:30AM Spinning Class #1
6:30AM Abs
7:45AM Stairs
9:30AM Spinning Class #2
10:30AM Weights (Bi’s and Tri’s)
I be doing hill repeats like this link to connect.garmin.com
My plan is to run 30k saturday at 8 in the morning – not sure what pace. The point is to get some kilometers in the legs before Hamburg Marathon 2013. First run on that distance in minimalist shoes :)
Next tuesday:
8 AM: one hour of swim drills
8PM: 30 minutes of running.
Hi,
Unless the temps start rising dramatically here in Austria, I’ll be keeping it fresh on the Tacx this weekend.
Shooting for 2-3 hours.
1) 15 mins warumup with 3×2 single leg drills & couple of high cadence efforts
2) 1 hour at 180W (No clue what %FTP that is right now, haven’t tested in a while…)
3) +10W every 15 Minutes until I start asking myself why I am doing all of this…
4) 5 mins cooldown
5) Refueling & Stretching
happy SBR everybody!
I will do a 2×36 minutes run in easy tempo at sunday, hopefully most of the snow is melted away here in Stockholm.
Friday will likely be unseasonably warm, 60º F, in Washington. I plan to run slowly for an hour or two outside to celebrate pre-Spring, Global Warming.
Sunday’s track workout
1600
400 recover
1200
400 recover
800
400 recover
400
400 recover
800
400 recover
1200
400 recover
1600
400 recover
Pass out
recovering from a calf strain, so hoping to make it through a nice easy 3 mile run.
Running a couple of short 2.5 mile runs this weekend. No hills yet, keeping it easy to start the season. Push the pace the last mile.
Running up Mt. Si on Saturday – unless there is a snow dump too good to pass up. Elevation gain is 4,167 feet in 4 miles. I go a lot slower down when it is wet, which is likely this time of year.
A some sort of sprint duathlon event: 5km run, 20km cycling, 2.5km run
Easy Friday lunch run time tomorrow, 22 km/13.67 miles – yes, it’s a longer lunch break, I’m not THAT fast..
Warm up 20 minutes, then run ina progression for 45 minutes e cool down in a easy 20 minutes jog.
1km warm up
14 km run, medium effort
Doing a 3 mile run with obstacles Saturday
Vo2 Max Swim Workout
W/U:
4 x (100 Free, 100 Drill, 50 Stroke, 50 Kick)
M/S:
6 x 100 Free Zone 6 Pace (1:00 R.I.)
6 x 300 Free Easy (:20 R.I.)
6 x 100 Free Zone 6 Pace (1:00 R.I.)
C/D:
100 Stroke
100 Drill
100 Free
4,500 Yards
Tomorrow’s workout:
5.25 mile run.
.25 mile warm up at 12min mile pace
.25 mile at 10 min mile pace
laddering up on the mile(s).
1 mile at 9:30 min mile pace
1 mile at 9 min mile pace
1 mile at 8:30 min mile pace
1 mile at 8 min mile pace
.50 mile at 7:30 min mile pace
CD .25 mile at 10 min mile pace
3 1/2 hour bike ride on Sunday at a zone 2 effort
Temperature is rising and snow melted down here in Kielce (Poland), so I think 15km run + 20km bicycle ride on saturday (first time this year) is a good plan :)
Friday March 1, 2013 5:00am – Get back into the pool! Swim 1,850 Yards.
Friday March 1, 2013 5:00pm – 5+ Miles along the Charles.
Trying to do 13 at race pace in prep for the Rock and Roll DC in two weeks
Very simple workout this weekend. I have two HMs next month, so this weekend I plan on a progressive 2 hour out and back. One hour out at regular long run pace, then back with each mile slightly faster, finishing with last two miles at race pace.
Classic 4×4 on an ergometer bike
10min warmup
4x4m at 115%FTP with 3m easy pedaling between intervals
5min cooldown
After warming up
6X1000m fast downhill /1000m easy uphill
warming down
Pedal Stroke Efficiency
-15min CP180 with minimum of 95rpm
-5min 105rpm / 2min Recovery
-3min 110rpm / 2min Recovery
-1min 120rpm / 2min Recovery
-3min 110rpm / 2min Recovery
-5min 105rpm / 2min Recovery
-32min CP180 with minimum of 95rpm.
During each high cadence interval focus solely on the cadence.
This weekend is Boot Camp weekend for my Team in Training group, so I’ll show up and do whatever they ask me to do for 7 hours straight on Saturday. And then again on Sunday.
4:15 in Barcelona Marathon
Climb Mt. Diablo on my bike.
Winter brick. One hour spin class into a 5k rin at a easy pace
Take a approx 75 km training pass on my Tacx RLV trainer next sunday. I havn’t yet decided on the route, choices being:
– Easy, flat “Training with Marianne Vos” (the whole course). But then it needs to be done in 2 hours.
– Less easy with some nice hills, maybe the Schwartzwald. Doubt 3 hours is enough…
Brick workout in preparation for Triathlon season that is coming up.
Bike 30 minutes on the trainer at a cadence of 90 rpm or higher, as well as at a speed of 15 mph or higher.
Run 30 minutes outside. Run as far as possible in the 30 minutes given (8:00 m/m goal pace)
Make a run n’ bike workout.
2K fast running
5K slow MTB
2K slow running
5K fast MTB
Just got a powertap so looking forward to a trainerroad 8 minute test to see how close the virtual power was.
Since I workout mostly on the gym, I´ll go with my simplest lineup
40 minutes at the treadmill, about 9 kph (usually a bit lower than that)
45 minutes at the exercise bike, somewhere around 150-200 watts, and around 75 rpm
20 minutes at the elliptical machine, at about 10 kph and about 130 heart bpm
Repeat that every two days.
The other days include about 30 minutes in each of the machines, with differing speeds and resistances depending on the day, and somewhere on the 30-35 minute range of several weightlifting exercises
Run 7miles and do 30mins of plyometrics after.
Book my first half marathon on Saturday
Go for my longest run yet (7 miles) on Sunday
Upcoming Saturday: 12-15Km @Marathon pace.
New powertap purchased so trainerroad FTP test coming.
Riding the new bike about 55km out to the north head in sydney harbour
Saturday’s Quadfecta
10 mile run with 1-2 fartleks each mile from #4-8
60 minute spin class
60 minute Body Pump class
Swim – 200 warm up
10x 50’s on 1:15
20x 25’s on 40 sec
100 cool down
THEN…snack, shower, food, beer, nap (pretty much in that order).
Saturday’s Quadfecta
10 mile run with 1-2 fartleks each mile from #4-8
60 minute spin class
60 minute Body Pump class
Swim – 200 warm up
10x 50’s on 1:15
20x 25’s on 40 sec
100 cool down
THEN…snack, shower, food, beer, nap (pretty much in that order).
Run. For 1 hour. As fast as I can under -8°C weather.
As spring arives, I’ll going 2km morning swim, 10km trail for lunch and evening 2 hours spinning. And then … beer or two :-)
The Wednesday TTT Paceline Ride (4-6 participants)
1 hour warmup to meeting point
1.5 hours rotating pace line
– First 30 min in continuous double-paceline rotation (averaged power 90-95% FTP)
– Second 30 min 30 second – 1 minute pulls (averaged power 105-110% FTP)
– Third 30 min folks get shelled, take the pulls you can handle @ 100% FTP
1 – 1.5 hours home
Tempo ride – been adding 10-15 mins a week, up next week is 1:20 in zone 3.
Back to running after a month long break requires a 10k easy pace, with 1 min pickups every mile.
My next run will be on Saturday: 5km slow pace + 4 x 30 seconds as fast as I can (2 minutes between each fast interval). With snow storm coming in, it should be fun!!!
Sunday morning, a nice 40 Km ride in the hilly Cotswold, Oxfordshire… weather permitting!
Les 100 premiers KM de Liège-Bastogne-Liège et ensuite une leffe blonde
The first 100 Km of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and then a leffe blonde
Easy run 4 miles.
20 minutes warm-up, 4 x 2 min Single Leg, 4 x 15 min 80% w/ 2 min recovery, 10 min cool down… 1 x 10 minute beer.
mins Gear rpm Details
4 Small 90-100 Warm up / Loose up
3 Bgx15 80 3 times 30″ spin ups and 30″ rest
2 Bgx16 35-40 km/h
2 Smx16 110
3 Smx16 80-100 3 times 30″ left leg only and 30″ right leg only
1 Smx16 90-110
1 Bgx16 30-35 km/h
2 Smx16 90-110
3 Smx16 >80 3 times 30″ spin ups and 30″ rest
2 Bgx16 35-40 km/h
2 Smx16 110
3 Smx16 80-100 3 times 30″ left leg only and 30″ right leg only
2 Smx16 110
2 Bgx16 80-100 High speed!
4 Small 100-110 Cool down and stretch afterwards
Finished the Birkie 50K XC ski race last weekend in Wisconsin. Legs are asking for another beating so planning on a 20+ mile run this weekend for Boston Marathon prep.
Saturday is a brick workout. Pretty cold here so winter gear is a necessity. Probably end up riding 20ish then a 4 mile run.. Then, of course, we eat!
Tomorrow, I plan to run two laps of a 12 km loop through the forest. Each loop has about 350m altitude gain/drop. When I ran it last week, the muddy ground was all iced over so I am hoping for better conditions this time.
1 hour per loop. Not quick, fairly technical trails.
Starting my 5k training hopefully by Sunday.
3-4 hrs on the bike, mostly z2
Bike 80km folowed by 8k run
10k warmup + 7x 10k progressive zone steady pace
Run 2k z2 +2k z4 two times
Bike 80km folowed by 8k run
3x Strength Endurance efforts up a 4km hill.
My run training for Sunday: 10 min. warm-up, 10 min. technical drills, 60 min. easy pace
Bike 80km
Take the new mountain bike out for a 2 hour quality trail ride followed by a 3 mile trail run.
30 minute run at 7min/mile pace tomorrow with a bit of Fartlek thrown in for good measure!
Bike about 2 hours on Saturday morning
Rest Sunday
Build up training gradually over the next few months…half Marathon in September
…lose 5Kg ballast as soon as possible….avoid cakes
Aiming for a 20 mile run at medium intensity on Sunday (praying the weather forecast stays nice) in preparation for Paris on 7 April! Good luck to everyone else on their way there.
Spin class 45 min, straight away . . .
Switch to stationary bike 30 min medium resistance
Run 25 min (10 medium pace, 10 hard, 5 easy)
Swim 20 min fairly easy
2 Hour Workout . . . You’re done!
1 mile warmup
4x 400 cut-downs starting at 1:15, dropping 3 seconds each time.
3 mile cool down
(training for mile run in track, not a tri)
Saturday brick – ride 70, run 8; all HIM effort
walk 60K with 2500m of elevation gain, and as much again of descent. Too cold for a swim in the sea at the end though.
Stepping up training as it gets warmer her in DC. 2km swim in the morning, 50 mile ride and then an easy 5 miles before it gets dark.
Saturday quadfecta
10 mile run with fartleks in miles 3-8
1 hour Spin class
1 hour Body Pup class
Swim session-200 W5U
10x 50’s on 1:
5
20x 25’s on 40 sec
200 CD
Eat, shower, eat, nap.
Supposed to be:
2 hour long ride – endurance focus
Z1 on flats and Z3 – 4 on hills
All steady state riding with cadence at 75 – 90rpm
Given the rain in Sydney it will more likely be:
Sufferfest – Local Hero
3×6:00 TT pyramids, 6x 3:00 tempo and power laps and 4x :30sprints!
Trainer Road Donner 3x15min @ 95%FTP
Saturday 3/2/13:
Morning Swim – Easy 10 min with a couple Sprints
Afternoon Bike – 15-20min (Make sure bike is working correctly)
Sunday 3/3/13: Race Day!! (Desert Triathlon International Dist)
Mon:10k easy run to work
Tue: strength training at the gym
Wed: Cycling on test track @ lunch time
Running on the all-weather running track, after work
Thu: Rest, deserved!
Fri: Swim training with triathlon club
WE: party!!!!
6 miles for the first time. Farklets the rest of the week.
15 km cross country skiing without the cramps
500 easy
200 one arm
200 fists
200 high elbows
500 paddles
500 pull buoy
Long run on Sunday in prep for April marathon, 17-18 miles at ~8 minute pace.