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:
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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.
2 hr bike ride along the PWPW in VA, followed by a 45 min run/walk. Sadly this won’t be as fun as my recent swims have been – I’ve been enjoying my time in the pool recently.
50 minutes recovery run tomorrow.
Workout hard on the road….
Find Beer and drink Beer
Eat!!!
Have Fun doing all above!!!
Just a small morning jog, 45-60min.
Short & simple, but intense, 45′ run:
15′ WU
10x(1′ at max VO2 pace/1′ jog)
10′ CD
Awesome giveaway.
My workout (if I can kick this sinus infection) will be a 1 hour trail run. Nothing fancy just pushing the time further out.
In the next 7 days I plan to do a recovery run of 7 miles to recoup from my FIRST marathon this past Sunday! My quads are still a little like bricks….
18 mile long run on Saturday
Tomorrow: One hour easy on the bike, just keep the legs moving. Rest up for the race on sunday!
Wrap up my late-winter build before two weeks of rest/recovery in preparation for the build to endurance riding season: 75 miles, mostly in Zones 2-3, with minimal rest/refuel stoppage, and over 75 feet-per-mile average climbing, followed by a 40 mile Zone 1-2 recovery ride the next day.
Long course swim workout:
20 MWU
6 x 100 pull 3:00
1. buoy at thighs
2. buoy at knees
3. buoy at ankles
3 x 400 @ 45 RI, HOLDING TIME TRIAL PACE
1 x 400 50 drill, 50 swim (easy, recovery, warm down)
2 hour Taekwondo session turned in to a 2 hour fitness session from hell! Taekwondo drills, shuttle runs with pressup and sit up thrown in, kicking drills, more shuttle runs, sparing, stretching oh and more drills just for good measure. Brilliant ‘fun’.
Light run on a track somewhere in Wales. Don’t freeze.
I have a 20 mile ride that I do from my house several times a week. I have recently started doing HR intervals on said ride and I have 2 of them scheduled for next week.
Sunday run of 7 miles….easy pace to start to burn off all this extra food I’ve been eating this week!
Bike: w/u x20 min and z1-2
then cadence intervals >100 x45 x5 with 45 sec rest
followed by 1 hr z1-2
2 hours trail ride after a week of too much work, 17km expected..
Long-ish run (key run #3, w8 on the FIRST half marathon program) => 13 miles/21km @ ~7.10/4.27 pace.
12 Mile Run
7 Miles: Steady Pace
3 Miles: Fast Pace
2 Miles: Steady Pace
Steady pace is 9:30 to 10:00 pace per mile.
Fast pace is 9:00 – 9:15 pace per mile
My next workout is a half marathon on Saturday am, where I’m hoping to run a 1:45. This means, just have to keep my km’s under 5:00 pace. I recently ran a half, was on pace for 1:45, and got terrible side stitches at km 13, and hobbled into the finish at 1:46:59. This is my redemption race!
Hoping to do a 5K in in under 18min by the end of the month.
Yeah, I know, weaksauce… I blame my dog for slowing me down :P
Not a big thing, just 1,5 h Sunday easy run with friends.
Long run on Sunday. 1hr easy pace. 2hr at marathon pace.
I will ski 100k on the gunflint trail
I’m pretty deep into marathon training for the RNR in Nashville.
Saturday I’m going to attemp a Yasso workout of 12 x 800’s at marathon pace or better.
Sunday is a long run of course of 19 miles at 1:15 over marathon pace.
Monday is Daddy time with my two girls. Best workout day of all.
Coming up on Tuesday I have 2-3 miles easy. 8X400 a little faster than 5K race pace with a 200 jog between, then 2 miles easy to cool down.
I’m rehabing an injured knee…. so per my PT’s instructions: Yoga, 30 min. on bike trainer, stretch, ice.
9 mile run along the Capital Crescent Trail on Saturday (prepping for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler).
Its taper time, so tonight will just be an easy 6 mile recovery run
I just completed the route for next thursday morning 38k lsd run. this will be the longest run in my preparation for Rotterdam marathon april 14th and Roparun.
link to afstandmeten.nl
Sunday – flat 10 miles at half-marathon pace (7:40-7:50 min/mile) as a preparation for a half-marathon next week.
Indoor trainer ride. Sufferfest “There is no try”. Time to beat my ass.
Recovering from a foot injury so probably nothing too exciting next week. I will go with an easy 12K with first 2K at 5 – 6 min/K pace (my usual 12K has a long hill in the first 2K so) ramping up to 4:50/K avg pace for the next 8K as the course levels out and then easing off and finishing with an easy 5:15/K 2K cooldown despite my usual instinct to finish hard in the 4 min/K range.
Today’s a turbo day:
1. 10 min warm-up, building resistance
2. 40 min main set, 20 x (1 min highest gear @ 65 rpm, 1 min one gear lower)
3. 10 min cool down
4. Transition run of ~3km @ 5km pace
5. Fall down
An LSD run of 20-22k, building up my mileage for this year’s marathons.
Friday: HT : “strength” workout, 10min warm up then 3x10min @ 60 RPM, big ring, lower cog (on the kinetic road machine), 3min rest between intervals
Saturday: Running, 15 min warm up then 3x10min @ Half Marathon pace, 2min rest between intervals
Sunday: Running, 1h30, “long run”, just a nice loop in Paris, hopefully in the sun.
Getting ready for my first 30km trail in 2 weeks, may everyone have fun training this week end !
5 min warm up increasing gradient on treadmill
6min at speed 6.0 & incline 8%
6min at 6.0 & 9%
6min at 6.0 & 10%
3min at 6.0 & 11%
Cool down walking at incline 12%
A 25 km long race in the countryside to relax myself after a strong working week, on satruday
I’m in the middle of marathon training, but like to keep up on my cycling and swimming so on Mondays, I cross-train by doing cycling workouts on my trainer:
10 min warm up (HR zone 1-2 or ~80 RPM)
5 min (60 RPM) followed by a 3 min recovery spin (95+ RPM) x 2
30 sec max effort followed by 90 sec recovery spin x 2
5 min (60 RPM) followed by a 3 min recovery spin (95+ RPM) x 2
10 min cool down
resume run training after a few weeks out with a painful heel, and finish that with still being able to feel anything in my foot! :)
Saturday: Run 9 miles, don’t exceed 150bpm
FTP Intervals.
WU: 30min build to steady and finish w/a strong 3min clearance effort in the last 10min
MS:
-5 x 4min STRONG -TT like efforts : 1-4 are paced near 40K/Oly distance race effort, #5 is ALL OUT.
-on 2min recovery
CD: 30+min endurance pace
Long saturday swim set:
3x1000m with 20sec rest in between, swim every 500m block faster than the previous one.
Still recovering from a bike accident 3 weeks ago. This week I am just getting back into running. Today: 1 hour recovery run after work.
3 hour Tough Love Spinervals DVD! Trying to get through the whole thing this time!
Sunday it’s “Vasaloppsspinning”. Vasaloppet is a quite famous 90k cross-country ski race here in Sweden, with 15000 something participants. I’m not racing this year, instead I’m going to watch the race on big screen (together with my teammates from SPIF Triathlon) while sitting on a spinning bike. We start at 8am when the race starts, and pedals until the winner has passed the finish line. Usually takes around 4 hours depending on weather and the state of the course. I predict a lot of sweat and tired legs.
i need to get back in the pool! i’ll probably shoot for a main set of 6×75 w/50m recovery followed by 10x25m
Push it, push it real good run.
10 min warm up @ 5min km pace
1km @ 3:30 min km
1km @ 4:45 min km
(repeat 6 times)
10 mincool down at 6 min km pace
Replacing my interval trainings by training with the school’s track team… Should be fun (and painful)!
5k run to recover from ancle injury and afterwards a one hour indoor training ride at avg. 80% of max heart rate.
Nice and Simple Swimset, 10x400m at IM pace, 30sec rest between Ints
Doing the new thesufferfest video tomorrow, blender. 100 minutes of suffering
Doing the new sufferfest video tomorrow, blender. 100 minutes of suffering
Cycle Gatineau Park (40km) on Saturday. Virtually of course because it would be REALLY tough with my 23mm tires IRL!
My schedule for next week
– long run on sunday: 1u, easy pace.
– Run to work on monday/wednesday/friday. Running is 30 to 40 min-something in various intensities. I’m following a 20K schedule from Adidas micoach
– go swimming on tuesday and thursday. It has been like 4 weeks since I last swam. What I do will depend on my coaches mood at that time… probably a lot of conditioning…
Doing the a new trainer video tomorrow, blender. 100 minutes of suffering hope i make it
Run home from work, about 3.4 miles with lots of ups and downs.
They have built an outdoor strength course With bars, logs and tractor Tires nearby so I’m planning on running there and checking it out
Run 7 minutes at 147bpm
Sprint for 1 minute
Run 7 minutes at 147bpm
Sprint for 2 minute
Run 7 minutes at 147bpm
Sprint for 3 minute
Run 7 minutes at 147bpm
Sprint for 2 minute
Run 7 minutes at 147bpm
Sprint for 1 minute
Cool down
10 mile run this Sunday the 3rd, last long run before my first half-marathon the following saturday! OMG
I`m currently doing le Tour des Star Wars… it`s a 6 stages indoor bike race with my buddies. I`m starting Stage 3 tonight which is roughly 2h20min on Revenge of the Sith ;-)
Tonight I will ride my trainer for at least 30 minutes and the swim 50 minutes. Nothing fancy.
Two workouts for this weekend:
7 miles at 7:00 min/mile pace.
4 miles of mile repeats at 6:00 min/mile pace with 2 minute break between miles.
Swim- Short intervals / short recoveries
WU:
200 free, 100 kick.
4 x 100 done as 25 kick, 25 R arm only, 25 L arm only, 25 free.
6 x 100 Odds: 25 kick, 25 R arm only, 25 L arm only, 25 free, evens: 25 swim, 25 kick, 25 pull, 25 swim.
MS: Try to make the times for these as consistent as possible. Recoveries are in seconds within parentheses.
8 x 100 @ T-pace (10”).
8 x 50 @ T-pace (10”).
CD: 200 easy.
Total—2700
1.5 hour run:
Warm up: 15′ zone 1
Main set: 25′ zone 2
10′ zone 1
2×10′ zone 3 with 5′ active recovery
Cool down: remainder or run @ zone 2
Ugh. don’t I wish I could plan a workout. I’m 45 days out from the Boston Marathon. I’m registered, have my flights, my training plan was going perfectly until a few weeks ago, and now I’m plagued with injuries. Not sure I will be able to even make the distance, but if I can even get in a 12-15 mile run this weekend, I know it’s not enough, but it would give me some hope. So, that’s it. a middlin-LSD of 15mi. It should be 20mi with 8 at MP at this point, but that’s out of the question. Oooh. is that a 610 I see over there on the right? Perhaps I’ll be able to strap it around my injuries and have it vibrate to aide healing.
P90x chest and back workout followed by 30 min bike (high intensity)
Monday night: 2:45 long run with last 30 min @ race pace.
Tomorrow night expect to be hitting the turbo trainer (Kinetic Rock n Roll) for a 60 minute Trainer Road Workout (Pinchot – 10 x 4:00 @ FTP).
I donated blood two days ago, so my workout for today is to ride the trainer for an hour to a sufferfest video (maybe “A Very Dark Place”), and try not to pass out again
Does a half marathon count as training?! I’ve got the Little Rock Half Marathon that I’ve been training for the past 3 months. My goal is 1:35 or lower, so I’ll be doing my workout at threshold pace or 7:15 mile/min or bust!
1k swim followed by 5k easy run this coming monday :)
Wow, 1200+ entries!!!
Easy 6 mile run @7:30.
Tomorrow night expect to be hitting the turbo trainer (Kinetic Rock n Roll) for a 60 minute Trainer Road Workout. Gonna give Pinchot a go: 10 x 4:00 @ FTP.
Wednesday’s interval run:
2 km warm up
5×1200 m, pause 1:30 min
4 km cool down
I have 4 sets of 5 45 seconds on/off VO2 max intervals tonight with 2 minutes between sets. Should be fine here, but not sure how I’ll manage next week when I’m traveling for work and have no access to my bike or a powermeter.
50-60 Mile steady ride. Last big ride before my first race next Saturday :)
15 min Warm-up easy pace
4 mile tempo at 6:30 pace
15 min Cool-down at easy pace
Another session of 30 mins warm-up, 10+ all out 30 sec hill sprints at my favourite local hill, listening to some inspiring music and 30 mins cooling down.
2Hr fast paced bike ride in a Fixed gear
Run my first half marathon on sunday !
Tuesday: training for the Guinness Challenge 8k (run) on St. Patrick’s Day:
-warmup 1-2 miles
-5 x 800m repeats at hard tempo pace, resting 10 seconds and drinking 4 oz. of Guinness between each
-cooldown 1 mile
1 hour easy run
Increase my long run to 15 miles at 8:30-9 min/mile and <140 HR.
I love Fridays when I “WORK” and “WORKOUT” remotely. I can set up my computer and hook up to WiFi in the dining area of my fitness center.
Get to gym before workday begins and swim 1 mile
Dry off/Warm Up, grab a snack and get to work
Log in and check email
Resolve a few problems
Take an early lunch and join a spin class
Followed by some treadmill time, 3 miles
Dry off/Clean Up, grab lunch and back to work
Thankful for a good WiFi connection. ;)
Sunday = go big day.
Cycling: 10 min Easy warmup; repeats 3 x (2 Min Hard, 2 min Easy); 10 min Easy cool-down
followed by
12.5K at Half Marathon Pace
5 mins warm up, 6 x 90 secs at 9 MPH interval training with 60 secs slow down inbetween and 5 mins cool down on Saturday.
16×100 in the pool and then a 40 minute run. Gonna be a good one!
Thanks!
Recovering from a broken ankle and will attempt my first 10k run since my injury this weekend.
On sunday my plan wants to have me doing a 10k test run (with 10 min warmup and 15 min cooldown).
This is part of my 8 week, 5day/week trainingplan for the half marathon in Berlin in April :-)
Hope to set my new PR there.
Good luck to all you runners having their race this weekend (depending on the comments there are a couple of them).
25 km run Friday after work… with a friend fortunately…
Tomorrow, I’m leaving for a full weekend of training, not sure what it entails, just that I have to bring mountainbike, running gear (including gear for night orienteering) and kayak gear!
On the trainer:
10 mins warm up
5 mins 30 on hard, 30 easy
6x 6mins on hard, 3 mins easy
10 mins cool down
Next Monday workout :
Warm-Up :
5 min. easy jogging
Dynamic stretching
ABC Skip
Acceleration 50%-75%-95%
Set:
4 x (3 x 200 meters at 30-32 seconds)
1:00 Min. rest between each 200 meters
2-3 min. rest between each 3 x 200 meters
So it looks like this :
200 m.
1:00 min. rest
200 m.
1:00 min. rest
200 m.
2-3 min. rest
200 m.
1:00 min. rest
200 m.
1:00 min. rest
200 m.
2-3 min. rest
200 m.
1:00 min. rest
200 m.
1:00 min. rest
200 m.
2-3 min. rest
Cool Down :
Easy jogging for 5 min.
Streching
Start commuting to work on my bicycle, 5 km each way , 3 to 4 days a week. Then, on weekends or at least every 2 weeks, make a good mountain bike trip over 30 km
Run my last half marathon of the season on Saturday at the fastest race pace I’ve ever raced, setting a new PR and auto-qualifying for next year’s Houston Half Marathon. I normally race by helping new runners complete their first half, so I’m running well below my race pace.
Run with 1 hill (1km), at least 13km….pace 5:30 min /km!
preparations for half marathon
Next Saturday duathlon sprint in Mugello circuit in Italy 5km run, 20km bike, 3km run
1 Check Shanghai air pollution. If under 150 (only 3 times world health recommendations), then continue to next step.
2. Run stairs in local apartment (2 x 45 floors)
3. Head outside for 8km
off to work
My only real workout in the next 7 days will be the 10 mile race in Ballycotton this Sunday. The reason why it’s a workout? Because my real goal race is 2 weeks later, the inaugural Tralee marathon, and Ballycotton will be the last real training run for that.
Oh, and I’d love one of those shine new FR910XTs to help me with my training.