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.
Preparing myself for the 24 hour mountain bike race in Canada in June.
Running and cycling 5 days a week. Hardcore training that I don’t die at the race.
That’s it. Not more and not less. :-)
Hour run tomorrow in the snow. Thanks goodness for yaktrax.
Waiting for Blender from sufferfest. Ray, I see all these trainers and I cringe! Haven’t you ridden on e-motion insideride rollers? How could you possibly ride a trainer after being on those? Anyway 80 miles solo on Saturday, and 60 mile group ride in the chilly 50s here in Miami on Sunday. 6 Mile run tomorrow (Friday) and 6 again Monday (what ever pace I feel like). Cheers!
1hr running with moderate space
30’spin on spin bike, easy to moderate
60’spin class (instructor will be focusing on hill repeats 8×1′ threshold (2’recovery)
120′ spin on spin bike,
change clothes…15′ dynamic warm up (high knees, butt kicks, 5×30″pick ups(2’active recovery), leg swings
toe the line to a fast and flat 5k race.
Bust my personal best on the treadmill since it has been extremely wet in our area. All while breaking in the new 4iiii viiiiva Heart Rate monitor i just received……
Planning to ride outside for the first time his year! 20f forcast- hope here is no ice for a2h ride
PR my back squat! Bench press, row & deadlifts! Easy? Hardly! I’ve never lifted this much in my life. Feeling strong and ready to enter a solid training season for a fall marathon!
Marathon training for me – this weekend’s long run is my progressive: 4 miles at 8:45, 4 at 8:30, 4 at 8:15, 4 at 8:00, and then see how much of 4 at 7:45 I can do… Going to hurt, but helps me know I can throw down fast-ish miles late in the race…
A 6-mile trail run…give or take a bit.
6 mile run on Saturday
PR all my barbell lifts! Begin training for my fall marathon #5.
Improve my barbell lifts! Begin training for my fall marathon #5.
Two hour steady state, zone 2 HR bike ride on Sunday.
Easy 6 mile run tonight at a leisurely pace.. not really training for anything at the moment….just out enjoying the beautiful SC weather
Unfortunately only physical therapy in the near term as I recover from an injury, but hopefully running soon as the weather warms up!
I haven’t put enough time into longer aerobic workouts, so I’ll be doing 2.5 hours on the bike, followed by 2.5 hours running. . . most likely on the treadmill.
First, Ray, you are so awesome for these giveaways.
Tomorrow night I plan on cycling inside a gym on an expresso machine. It’s not as good as cycling outside but I get out of work late, it’s dark, it’s cold, and it’s near the office. I’ll do 45 minutes at 200 watts. This means that I’ll keep the resistance at 15 and change my cadence accordingly. It is kind of interesting because when the machine simulates downhills I’ll be pedalling at 90 rpm and on steep up hills (25 to 30%) the rpm’s will be in the 30’s.
100k ride on sun morn
The plan is to go for a minimum two hour, 65km bike ride that includes several hills (Cat 4 according to Strava). There’ll be other workouts, but that’s the one I’m planning and looking forward to.
Bike:
90 minute @ zone 2
At least 6 miles weaving thru the snow on Saturday or Sunday. Pace will depend on road conditions
Trail Run: Building Repeats
8x 1 mile repeats (4 uphill, 4 downhill)
Uphill paces @
5:00/km
4:50/km
4:40/km
4:30/km
Downhill paces @
4:30/km
4:20/km
4:10/km
4:00/km
Simply take my wife out for a run around the woods, making sure we keep out of the way of all the Tour of Anchorage Skiiers
Simply take my wife out for a run around the woods, making sure we keep out of the way of all the Tour of Anchorage Skiers
Simply take my wife out for a run around the woods 4 miles tops, making sure we keep out of the way of all the Tour of Anchorage Skiers.
Indoor Bike Training session:
20 WU
2 x 30 min Sweet Spot (5 RI)
10 Cool Down
TNF Singapore City Race 40km on Sunday! :)
Run 21K Sunday morning and live through it.
11 Mile Run, don’t trip, don’t get hurt. I might be asking for a lot with that
Run 21K Sunday morning and live through it. Maybe bike ride tonigh
just easing back after a bout of flu… gonna resume lunchtime runs of 5-7k in Sunny Singapore!
Hi ya’ll!
My speed training workout this week will hopefully look like this:
1 mile warm up
400 m x 7:00 mi pace
jog for 2 minutes
400 m x 7:00 mi pace
jog for 2 minutes
800 x 7:45 pace
jog for 3 minutes
800 x 7:45 pace
jog for 3 minutes
400 x 7:00 pace
jog for 3 minutes
400 x fastest possible
1 mi cool down.
I started running in September, not being able to run a mile despite always having been a gym-goer. Now I can run 8 miles and am training for my first half-marathon. I love running and can’t imagine the rest of my life without it!!!!
I plan to get in the pool on Sunday for the first time since IMWI…..and then try not to drown
Drag self out of bed at 4:00am. Eat powerbar. Get Dressed. Turn on light. Pedal, Pedal, Pedal, coast, pedal, pedal, suffer, etc. 90 minutes later, show back up at start point. Turn off light.
1 hour threshold workout on Trainer Road, prepping on an aluminum cannondale for my new litespeed c1 arriving next week.
Bike
Wu: 10 ez, 3min standing big ring, 2 ez, 12 min 85% FTP 3min ez
MS: 2×15 min FTP 5 ez, 1×5 min FTP 5 ez
Rest of time 75% endurance pace
Total 2 hours
Roger’s Session on the Home Depot Velodrome in Carson, CA. Warm up, then move around the track at various intensities, from easy to tempo to anaerobic. At the end, 40 lap motorpace session with the scooter ramping up the pace until only a few can hang on, punctuated by a sprint of course! Bring your own bucket. :-)
3.5 HR Indoor Trainer Workout bc it was 5 degrees and snowing whiteout
1/10 dead grandma
2/10 lazy Sunday afternoon stroll
3/10 commute to campus
4/10 recovery/all day long
5/10 drafting behind a big guy in a paceline
6/10 long road race effort
7/10 sustainable long time trial effort
8/10 pushing it – sustainable for about 2 mins
9/10 sprinting for 30 seconds
10/10 @!$%!@%! all out – can only hold this for very brief bursts
Saturday 2/2/13
15 minute warm up
3x{(8:00 set, 6:00 ON, 2:00 recovery, 24 min total)
1 min 6/10 90 rpm
1 min 7/10 95 rpm
2 min 8/10 100 rpm
1 min 7/10 95 rpm
1 min 6/10 90 rpm
2 min 4/10 80-90 rpm Recovery}
3 min recovery 3/10
Building Power {20 mins
1 min 7.5/10 75 rpm
1 min 6/10 85 rpm}
5 min recovery 4/10
Sprinting Intervals
6x{(5:00 set, 2:00 ON, 3:00 Recovery, 30 mins total)
1:00 7/10 85 rpm
0:35 8/10 95 rpm
0:25 9.5/10 100+ rpm
3 min 4/10 60-90 rpm get back to base level}
5 min recovery 4/10
Stairway to awesome (18 min)
1 min 6/10 45 rpm
1 min 6/10 50 rpm
1 min 6/10 55 rpm
1 min 6/10 60 rpm
1 min 6/10 65 rpm
1 min 6/10 70 rpm
1 min 6/10 75 rpm
1 min 6/10 80 rpm
1 min 6/10 85 rpm
1 min 6/10 90 rpm
1 min 6/10 95 rpm
1 min 6/10 100 rpm
1 min 6/10 105 rpm
1 min 6/10 110 rpm
1 min 6/10 115 rpm
1 min 6/10 120 rpm
1 min 6/10 125 rpm
1 min 6/10 130 rpm
5 min recovery 4/10
Power Half-Hour (30 mins)
30x{(1:00 min sets)
15 sec 10/10 100+ rpm Get the jump on
45 sec 5/10 80-90 rpm recovery}
5 min recovery 4/10
Get off your arse (15 mins)
15x{(1 min sets, 30 sec off, 30 sec on)
30 sec out of saddle 7-8/10 70-80 rpm
30 sec on saddle 6/10 90 rpm}
Recovery/Warm Down
8 mins 3-4/10 w.e rpm
(Then turn over this piece of paper.)
NOT DONE :P
6 Min TT 8/10 90-100 rpm
Use the last ounces of energy.
Recovery/Warm Down
8 mins 3-4/10 w.e rpm
Actually done this time.
4 hr sub lt group ride
8 mile relaxed run on the Augusta GA Canal Towpath. No warmup, no cool-down, just 8 easy miles.
More trail running and tempo runs
Here’s my top secret training plan to becoming a better runner: run more
10 minute warm up, 4 x 5:00 hill repeats on the treadmill at 4%, 5%, 6%, 7% with 2 min recovery.
10 mile trail run. Soon to be personal best
Insanity Abs workout!
1 hour bike in z3 at 55 rpm cadence – power focused
Ray, you’ve really outdone yourownself with this one.
OK, nothing huge planned over the next week, but my race team (Racer X Cyclin for those of you scoring at home) and I will do a simple, out-and-back 45-mile course with a coupla short, hard climbs thrown in. I’ll ride from and back to my apartment to turn it into a 70-miler.
Cheers!
11 mile slow run in prep for a half-marathon in 3 weeks.
40×400 run till ya drop
I’m getting back into adventure racing. This weekend I plan to mtb 3 miles and then trail run 2 miles (plus 2 miles bike commuting there and back).
10 mile run, first 4 @ MAF then 2×15 min @ 6:15, on 1 min rest, the rest at MAF
4 hours easy pn the computrainer with ergvideo courses.
3x hill repeats
‘hill’ is 6.2 miles w/ 2101 ft ascent, at least the descent is fast!
2 goals since I’m just coming off base training for a marathon in June:
1) add a lifting circuit routine twice a week
2) increase my intervals in distance and keep same pace (right now at 3 1-mile repeats at 6:30)
This coming Sunday’s long bike:
BIKE 2:30
Sure, this is a long workout. Of course, it’s less than half the time you’ll be riding in your big Ironman-distance race later this year! Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’ll be outside, full of volunteers, and exciting…but you’ve got to do it now, to do it right then. Have a good time with it!
WARM UP
20:00 warm up spin, easing into your long ride by slowly bringing your intensity up to 70%
DRILLS (30:00 total)
2 x 3:00 ILT w/30 sec recovery after each
— each repeat should be
3 x (20 sec one leg / 10 sec transition / 20 sec other leg / 10 sec transition)
3 x 4:30 Variable Gearing set w/30 sec recovery
— every repeat should be as follows:
3 x thru the following:
40 sec in “medium” gear;
20 sec in “easy” gear;
30 sec in “hard” gear
2 x 3:00 ILT w/30 sec recovery after each
MAIN SET — BIG TARGET!
This is a longer big target set, and will be used to track your aerobic conditioning at this point. This “Descending Ironman” set adds up to exactly 25% of the overall Ironman distance.
Start your watch at the beginning of your first interval, and check your split times at the end of each segment. Your HR should be constant @75% during the intervals, and can drop to 60% (no lower) during the recovery periods.
(11.2 miles / 18km / 33:00) @75% — recover to 36 min mark @60%
(8.4 miles / 13.5km / 24:00) @75% — recover to 1:03 mark @60%
(5.6 miles / 9km / 16:30) @75% — recover to 1:21 mark @60%
(2.8 miles / 4.5km / 9:00) @75% — recover to 1:35 mark @60%
COOL DOWN
Continue spinning @70-75% until the 2:40 mark (about 15:00)
20 min pilates followed by a 4 mile run.
SWIM 1:00
\t\tWARM UP
\t\t800 Swim, Kicking every 4th length
\t\t(3 lengths Swim, 1 length Kick, continuous)
\t\tMAIN SET
\t\t1000 Loco Swim
\t\t– let your HR get above 80% on the fast lengths
\t\t(ALTERNATE SET: 800 Loco)
\t\trest 60 sec before continuing with:
\t\t6 x (100 @85% – 50 easy) – continuous (900 total)
\t\t(ALTERNATE SET: 4 x (100 @85% – 50 easy))
\t\tCOOL DOWN
\t\t6 x 50 @60% w/10 sec rest after each
Simple 8x3min on 3 min off at 120% FTP.
Run 16 miles. 12 miles @ marathon pace.
This is going to sound lame, but I am healing/recovering from an ITB injury. My PT said that tomorrow I can do 10 mins on the recumbent bike and 10 mins on the elliptical as long as I experience NO pain. Then Sunday I can bump up each to 20 mins with NO pain-Whoo Hoo..baby steps! I haven’t run in 2 1/2 weeks. I miss it so much.
SWIM 1:00
Warm Up
800 Swim, Kicking every 4th length
(3 lengths Swim, 1 length Kick, continuous)
MAIN SET
1000 Loco Swim
– let your HR get above 80% on the fast lengths t(ALTERNATE SET: 800 Loco)
Rest 60 sec before continuing with:
6 x (100 @85% – 50 easy) – continuous (900 total)
ALTERNATE SET: 4 x (100 @85% – 50 easy))
COOL DOWN
6 x 50 @60% w/10 sec rest after each
Prep my body before I start my regular plan:
work on my core strength via swimming (next week)
1 X 200m free warmup
1 X 400m free
4 x 50m butterfly kick
2 x 50m side butterfly kick
2 x 50m backstrock kick
1 x 100m free cooldown
4 minutes run @ tempo pace & 1 min recovery, repeated 10x along all the random hills in my neighborhood. You never know when you’ll have to run a hill or walk it. Fun stuff!
150 minute endurance ride 50-80% FTP on Sunday.
Unsure which way round this weekend, either:
12 km run with hill work, looking to keep a good pace down as well as up (I find downhills costs me in races)
Swim 3000m
300 warm up – 100 swim, 100 pull, 100 kick
6 x 400 at CSS pace
300 warm down – 100 swim, 100 pull, 100 kick
SWIM 1:00
Warm Up
800 Swim, Kicking every 4th length
(3 lengths Swim, 1 length Kick, continuous)
MAIN SET
1000 Loco Swim
– let your HR get above 80% on the fast lengths
Rest 60 sec before continuing with:
6 x (100 @85% – 50 easy) – continuous (900 total)
COOL DOWN
6 x 50 @60% w/10 sec rest after each
SWIM 1:00
Warm Up
800 Swim, Kicking every 4th length
(3 lengths Swim, 1 length Kick, continuous)
MAIN SET
1000 Loco Swim
– let your HR get above 80% on the fast lengths
Rest 60 sec before continuing with:
6 x (100 85% – 50 easy) – continuous (900 total)
COOL DOWN
6 x 50 60% w/10 sec rest after each
8mi progression run with last 15min moderate (1/2 pace + 30sec).
SWIM 1:00
Warm Up
800 Swim, Kicking every 4th length
3 lengths Swim, 1 length Kick, continuous
MAIN SET
1000 Loco Swim
– let your HR get above 80% on the fast lengths
Rest 60 sec before continuing with:
6 x 100 85% – 50 easy – continuous 900 total
COOL DOWN
6 x 50 60% w/10 sec rest after each
To try and run to the top of Heartbreak hill in Sydney.
SWIM 1:00
Warm Up
800 Swim, Kicking every 4th length
3 lengths Swim, 1 length Kick, continuous
MAIN SET
1000 Loco Swim
– let your HR get above 80% on the fast lengths
Rest 60 sec before continuing with:
6 x 100 85% – 50 easy – continuous 900 total
COOL DOWN
6 x 50 60% w10 sec rest after each
SWIM 1:00
Warm Up
800 Swim, Kicking every 4th length
3 lengths Swim, 1 length Kick, continuous
MAIN SET
1000 Loco Swim
– let your HR get above 80 on the fast lengths
Rest 60 sec before continuing with:
6 x 100 85 – 50 easy – continuous 900 total
COOL DOWN
6 x 50 60 w10 sec rest after each
I just started the New Century training program from Chris Carmichael’s book The Time Crunched Cyclist, which is designed to increase endurance and distance for long rides. Tomorrow I’ll be doing a 90 minute ride broken out as follows:
10 min warm-up (50-65% FTP)
15 min “endurance pace” (75% FTP)
4 x 6 min “steady state” intervals (95-100% FTP), 5 min RBI
15 min “endurance pace” (75% FTP)
6 min cool down (65-50% FTP)
This is still in Week 1 of the program, so the intensity is still pretty low.
Saturday is an 8 mile run with at least 2 miles of hills between 4% and 7% incline – I’m still base training, so much of the run will be a moderate pace. If I’m feeling good I may do an extra loop of the hills. The morning may include an early morning swim depending on how the schedule is looking that day.
Indoor Trainer Workout
15 minute warm up
4x{(25:00 set, 20:00 ON, 5:00 recovery, 100 min total)
2 min 6/10 85-100 RPM getting HR up, in the zone
16 min 7/10 90-100+ RPM TT effort, steady pace
2 min 5.5/10 85-100 RPM some active TT recovery (downhill)
5 min 3/10 80-90 rpm Recovery}
Stairway to awesome (18 min)
1 min 6/10 45-130 rpm increase RPM by 5 each minute
5 min recovery 4/10
Power Half-Hour (30 mins)
30 min 5-7/10 80-100 RPM
build speed for 5 mins then bring back down, stay endurance, not tempo
5 min recovery 4/10
I have a 10 mile treadmill run planned for this weekend.
-1 mi warm-up at base (7.1 mph)
a. 0.5 mi at base+0.5 mph (7.6 mph)
b. 0.25 mi at base+0.5 mph (8.6 mph)
c. 0.25 mi at base+0.1 mph (7.2 mph) –> this is the new base
Repeat a-c 7 more times.
-1 mi cool-down at initial base (7.1 mph)
Fun?!
Run 2 hours along the Ironman Tri marathon route in Kona, Hawaii it should be great.
WU:
200 catchup and tennis ball drills
200 kick
200 pull with paddles
Mainset ladder:
25, 50, 75, 100, 100, 75, 50, 25 ; 10 sec rest
Repeat three times with 1 minute between sets
200 cool down: breastroke and slow crawl
Sunday 8:40 AM
15min warm up
Run like hell coogan’s 5k (hopefully sub 6:30).
Get decent place in age group.
Gently walk, streach.
Greg
Just some water aerobics this weekend.
Just got “Smart Marathon Training.” Going to incorporate the Functional Exercises to help avoid any further running injuries. They include: clam, side leg raise, donkey kick, donkey whip, fire hydrant, prone hurdle, standing hurdle, lateral leg swing, front leg swing, walking lunge, side lunge, wide squat, narrow squat, step ups, jump and reach, and box jump.
4x{2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike, 26.2 mile run}
Sunday RUn 30K
M: Rest
T: SWIM 1.6 K
W: Run 10K
Th: RUN 10K
F: SWIM 1.6 K
S: Rest
Weather looks lousy this weekend, yet again. I’ll be doing a long, mostly-easy ride on Trainer Road. Love that app!
I’m running a trail half marathon this weekend, I feel like that’s enough of a workout!
Aim to run (well, mostly run) 10km on Sunday. Training to do my first competitive run – a 10k at the end of May (Huntly, New Zealand). Haven’t run/walked more than 9k yet though. Want to be able to run the full 10k without stopping, just under 3 months to the event!
Running my 1st marathon this weekend in Phoenix… Ouch.
1 Hour run with TE greater than 4.0
Recovering from racing a marathon three weeks ago, followed by a 15k, 5k, half marathon, and 8k this weekend. All recovery runs for the foreseeable future: short and easy.
I was training for my first 50-miler but strained a calf muscle and have not run in over a month. I am planning on a short 45-minute session on the trainer followed by a mean core workout as that is what I am limited to right now.
Friday morning: prework 0500 5K ergo and 60min trainer with ladder intervals and a 1900 postwork 50min @ pace run.
5-6 mile run this weekend to get ready for the Indy Mini 10k training run next weekend.
Inline skating for 45 minutes averaging 12-15 mph with slalom practice on the steep downhills for the occasional jolt of adrenaline
Running 20 miles at race pace plus plus 30 seconds.
Just getting over a cold…. so I’m just aiming for a few miles at an easy pace (all the while not coughing up a lung!).
I definitely need to improve my swimming for my first OD triathlon in June.
As a start:
4 x 100 yards
4 x 50 yards
4 x 25 yards
(link to ruthkazez.com)
2 weeks break slows my running pace, need to get into a tempo run 2 times this week to get it back.
60 mile ride this Sunday… The wife needs to test drive a new bike
Swim training tomorrow – just a begineer:
4 x 100 yards…rest for 10 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards…rest for 6 breaths between 50s
4 x 25 yards…rest for 4 breaths between 25s
Using the Zero to 1 Mile plan – link to ruthkazez.com