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.
Todays workout was going to be an easy 1-1.5 hour ride, but rain has decided otherwise. So instead i’ll do an easy swim workout
400 FS
6 x 100 IM
400 Kick w Fins
2 x 50 FS Stroke Count
400 FS w Snorkel
2 x 50 FS SC
4 x 100 FS on 1.40
200 Easy
60 minute trail run.
I’m just getting over some achilles issue, so hopefully everything goes smoothly.
Running 6 “hill loops” in under 90 minutes, descending each loop.
4Km beach run (deep sand)
100 reps – sumo deadlift in sets of 15 (and a bit :) )
20km bike
after that nice chocolate ice cream :D
Run 13.1 in 20* weather with 13 mph winds without freezing
Keep it very simple.
40 mins easy run…
7-8 miles on Saturday. Building up for my first half marathon.
Swim freestyle laps for 45 minutes. Don’t drown.
Run 5 miles a day for 7 days in a row
Saturday morning Whidbey Island ride from the ferry dock in Clinton, WA. Usually a 26-miler with ~2100′ of climbing. May throw in an extra hill and a few extra miles and make it around 30 w/2500′ of climb.
Eat chocolate brownie Clif bar, bike 1:00:00 with 20′ Z4 x2 and 5′ RBI while consuming Riptide Rush Gatorade then 2 mile easy pace outdoor brick run in the slush, drink chocolate Orgain frozen smoothie.
I’d love to win
Easy 3.5 mile jog on Saturday morning before the rains come.
Suferfest will have their new video!!! IWBMATTBYT!
Ride 33 miles this weekend and fit a 15k time trail during one stretch of the ride.
Bike:
WU: 30-40 minute easy
MS: back to 1.5-2hr mostly Z2 today, upper end aerobic range. Include 5-8 x 30 second sprints in 2nd half to mix it up.
CD: 10-20 minute easy
30km Mountain run…
Thursday run 3 miles @ 8:34 per mile
Friday run 3 miles @ 9:00 per mile
Saturday Ab and upper body workout. Work on my bike to get it ready for warm weather
Sunday run 4 miles @ 9:27 per mile
Run 10 miles on Saturday, and if I can run another 10 miles on Sunday.
Saturday morning: wake up punitively early for a 26.2 mile run in the Phoenix Marathon!
I plan an 80 mile distance training ride for this Sunday.
14 miles Long Run, base miles in prep for June SFO Marathon
Long climb this weekend. Shooting for 5000 feet in one day.
Recovering from the flu. Saturday morning 15 minute warm up run then 5x 5min Interval runs at 85-95% MHR with 1:00 rib. 10 min cool down then stretch.
Run 4.5 miles to local bar, drink an Irish Car Bomb, run 4.5 miles back. It’s training for an upcoming fun run.
Sunday morning ride:
15 minute warm up
2.5 hours @ steady 135 bpm heart rate
15 minute cool down
In the taper phase before Tel Aviv marathon on March 15.
30 minute warmup
(3min z4 + 2 min z1) x 4
10 min z2
(1 min map + 2 min z4 + 2 min z1) x4
Cd
Cool idea.
Saturday Bike: 15min WU [include 3×1’@120+RPM(1′)]; 2×20′ (4′) @ z4, 5-10′ @ z4; 5-10′ CD.
I’ve been hitting my nutrition wall at the 2 hour mark on my runs. So I picked up a myriad of nutrition packs (honey, almond butter, coconut electolyte mix) and will experiment to find a combination that will keep me going.
12 Mile run in Forest Park sometime this weekend
-will try to run at a 7:50 pace
Still cross-country skiing here: one over-distance = 20K plus, some fartlek/pick-ups. Considering my first ultra………..yikes.
I plan to run 5 miles in under 40 minutes and bench press 250 lbs. First I’ll get up have 3 cups of coffee. Practice the piano and guitar for 2.5 hours. Then I will stretch. This will be followed by alternating days of heavv dumbbell and lighter aerobic dumbbell training. The weight session will be followed by a 5 mile run, where I will run the the first 3 miles under 30 minutes, and the last 2 at any comfortable pace. I will gradually increase the speed of the first 3 miles each day until I get down to 24 mintes. When I do, I will syart timing the last 2 miles and increase the speed in a like wise fashion accordingly.
Tomorrow morning wake up at 4:40am and go for 1 hour tempo run at 8:00/mile pace
Then, during lunch do another 40 minutes speed work on a treadmill. I haven’t decided what speed work i will do but it’s going to be fast!
-Konstantin
10 mile run in prep for a race on March 10th.
Will try to figure out what pace will be my goal-pace for the race.
Then ………. lots of praying for good weather on race day.
Did I mention March 10th is Daylight Savings here! Finally an additional hour of training time!!!!!!
I need to start running again, so this week, my goal is to make it to the basement twice, dust off the treadmill and pound out 4 or 5 miles!
I have a fuel utilization test coming up nest week on the bike. I hear it hurts like hell. We shall see …
11 mile mixed hill/flats run this weekend, followed by 1/8 mile swim
Speed workout on the track with my 8 year old son, he has his first 5k of the season next month.
3 hour on computrainer. Real course video – lake placid.
Start incorperating speed work in order to break half marathon PR.
For the first time I will be doing a 2h aerobic spin on the trainer. If I win, you get to choose the movie I’ll be watching, which should make this workout more or less of a killer. :-)
Saturday: 10K-9:00 pace, 1,000 meter freestyle (Any time I can, I’m just learning to swim), core, and 5 miles bike.
90minute run – 15mins easy to warm up, 60mins Solid, 15mins coast.
Going to be doing a speed workout, with the 8 year old son, preparing for his first 5k of the season next month.
First: Spend 30 minutes in the local church parking lot working on clipping/unclipping out of my new SPD-SL cleats.
After some experience and confidence, put the bike in the back of the car with my friend, drive up to Frederick, MD. Park in the parking lot of Flying Dog Brewery. Then, get on the bike, and ride the Tour de Frederick loop that included all of the paved roads to get to Sugarloaf Mountain. Ride up the “mountain”, then back to Flying Dog for the 2 hour Brewery Tour. Finish off the workout with some tasty Beer.
This’ll be a little different from most entries.
Back squat day
Warmup:
1×5 at 40% of 1 rep max weight (1RM)
1×5 at 50% 1RM
1×3 at 60% 1RM
Worksets:
1×5 at 75% 1RM
1×3 at 85% 1RM
1×1+ at 95% 1RM
Anderson squats
5×5
front squats
5×5 for technique
Zercher walks
3-5 sets
Call it a day. A tired, tired day.
Mile cutdown and rebuild. Tough workout but very effective.
2mi warmup. Then 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m, 400m, 800m, 1200m, 1600m. 400m recoveries inbetween intervals. 2mi cool down.
1600s are done at 10k pace
1200s at 5k pace.
800s at 5k pace minus 20 seconds.
400s at mile pace.
10k in less than 44 minutes in the morning and do a core-strengthening workout in the evening.
Saturday will be a light spin with a few short efforts to wake up the legs before the first training crit of the season on Sunday morning. Huzzah!
So I’ve been hitting my nutrition wall at the two hour mark. I picked up a myriad of nutrition packs (honey, almond butter, coconut electrolyte mix) and will experiment with combination to help me keep my momentum going.
One of my workouts is a 50′ run with 3×8′ efforts:
– 10′ Warmup build to MOD
– 5′ of running drills (A, B, C’s, karaoke, pick-ups)
– 3×8′ at Steady, Tempo and HARD efforts respectively
– Pad the remaining time as cool down.
Just finished a 35 min workout on the treadmill at 6:15min/km. In the warm up phase of a half-marathon race end of July. Test race of 10 km coming up at the end of Apri. Thanks Ray for a chance to get the FR910XT!!!
All I want to do is stay on the bike for 2 straight hours OUTSIDE
Sub 42 10k Sunday morning,with an easy swim for the evening
This is something i would do for the first time, speed play in a 400m oval. (whatever, as long as it concerns speed, speed it is)
Warm up : 10mins walk 5 mins light jog
Stretching : (insert your stretching exerices here) takes me for about 15 mins.
Workout :
1 lap light jog
3x laps @ 6:00 pace
1 lap light jog
3x laps @ 5:30 pace
1 lap light jog
3x laps @ 5:00 pace (while praying to the gods to end this struggle)
Cool down : 15 mins walk, chug down 2 bananas and my favorite energy drink.
Maintain 90% of maximum HR for 30min.
6 miles run pushing my son running stroller
I plan to attach my son’s buggy to my bicycle and ride as hard as I can into the wind for 45 minutes, turn around, and sail home with the tailwind pushing the 50 pound buggy (with son inside)and me as fast as we can go!
20-22 mi long run, last 10 @ MRP
I plan to do a practice half marathon at near/on half marathon pace. The challenge is my tight left calf which I tweaked on an easy 10km last night. I will be taking my cheap Samsung ‘running phone’ for my potential pick-up.
Just restarting my training after a broken toe injury : (
Been walking for a few days now and planning to start off with a some short slow runs and a couple of fartleks to get the heart accustomed to working again.
10 min warmup followed by 5 sets of:
1 min fast
1 min slow
1 min walk
5 mins cool down.
A nice 910 xt would be a super companion to this : D (hint hint)…
Easy 30 minute recovery run on Sunday.
Swim workout:
Warm up
3×150 as 100 easy/50 hard
3×100 with at least one interval fist drill, one drill of choice, other easy
Main set
6×100 push off wall go as hard as you can, 10″ rest between 100s
4×100 hard/5″ rest between
200 cool down
I’m in my rest week, so my long run would be 1.30 hours… Easy, very easy!
Do a couple of trainer rides this weekend and figure out which tri I want to do this year. Make a schedule to start prepping for that. Maybe run outside if the weather is ok.
Suffered a groin injury last thursday so the physio says all I can do is go for a slow 20 min cycle on the flat this sunday to test it out.
Extremely frustrating
I’m recovering from quite severe anemia, so I’m hoping just for an easy 45 minute run this weekend. Don’t care how far I go, just that I can continue for that long!
Here’s the workout planned on my 51st birthday (Wed) for my first 51.5km Tri in May. Back-and-Forth BRICK: Start easy then build to moderate intensity. Bike – warm up 10 minutes Run – treadmill 5 minutes Repeat Bike/Run sequence three more times. C/D – Bike 5-10 minutes (or more if necessary), and stretch. Bet you can guess which gadget I would choose!
I plan on doing mountain repeats on bike. This mountain is a cat 1 and takes about 30 minutes to complete. I am going until my legs fail or it starts to get dark. Should be painfully fun!!!
I am planning to run 20km this weekend.
Saturday I have my long run to prepare for a half marathon. I’m running 13 miles just because this is not mya A race this year.This is the last run before I start to taper. I hope to make it under 1:57.
1. Light static Stretching
2. WU: 3 min brisk walking
3. Run 3 mi, trying to stay below a 10min pace
4. CD: 3-5 min
5. Every leg stretch I can think of.
Training 5k & 10k run on alternate days with Sunday being rest day. Hoping I could train my endurance to try a Full Marathon end of year. :)
Next week’s planning:
Run 3 miles on Tuesday. 4 miles on Wednesday. 3 miles on Thursday. 9 miles on Saturday.
In my way for training for the San Francisco Marathon
2 mile time trial on saturday
Cycling Workout:
10 Minute Warm-up
4 Sets of:
2 x 15 Second Sprint / 1:30 Recovery
2 x 20 Second Sprint / 2:00 Recovery
2 x 25 Second Sprint / 2:30 Recovery
5 Min Recovery between sets
Final 5km:
3 min hard effort / 1 min recover / 15 sec sprint / 25 sec recover / 20 sec sprint / 40 sec recover / 25 sec sprint
5+ Minute cool-down
I’m going to do a 14km long slow run in z2 over hilly terrain, pace be darned.
Follow that by a 2 hour drive to the mountains to teach my daughter to ski.
“long” ride: 50 mile dam loop around Austin + Cuernavaca for some added hills.
30 minute light run to test how my previously injured back is doing.
Warmup: 2km easy
Track intervals:4x 400m (30s rest), 4x 200m (15s rest), 4x 100m (10s rest)
Warmdown: 5km easy
Winter triathlon for me… 5 km run, then 10 km cross-country skiing, then 5 km skating. should be able to make it in 1:20-1:25
14 km weekend long run
2 km walking warmup
11 km in z2 HR over rolling hills pace be damned to build leg strength and aerobic base.
1 km walking cool down
Foam rolling.
2 hours of endurance/base work on the trainer.
Tempo run consisting of 10 min warm up, 6x(6 min “hard”/2 min easy), 5 min warm down. “Hard” sets keeping HR below 85%.
Cheers
continue *daily* strength training:
1 min_ lower abs
20 reps_ push ups
1 min_ lower abs
20 reps_ push ups
20 reps_ sit ups
20 reps_ push ups
20 reps_ sit ups
20 reps_ push ups
5 rep_ pull ups (full) *
5 rep_ pull ups (full) *
5 rep_ chin ups (full)
10 rep_ diamond push ups
5 rep_ chin ups
10 rep_ diamond push ups
10 rep_ triceps
10 rep_ triceps
10 reps_ lats
10 reps_ lats
5 reps_ handstand push ups
5 reps_ handstand push ups
***throw in :
10 rep_ knuckle push ups
10 rep_ knuckle push ups
and to keep going strong with track practice!
Run 3mi!
4 hours of endurance/base miles – combination of outdoors and rollers.
Swim:
100yd warmup
10×100’s on 2:00
100 cooldown
Thanks again for the chance, Ray.
Get the CX bike back onto upper park road for a 1.5 hr sunny road/gravel ride — at least. Ride with my son across town — even better. Then swim with my daughter — that would be the icing on top.
I have a group mob bike ride coming up on Sunday followed by a brick trail run. The ride will probably be 3 hours at a decent pace and will judge the run from there. Hopefully 4-5 miles at 7:05 pace.
This weekend is a four day trip to ray’s indoor mountain bike park… The plan is to have at least two, two hour sessions per day of excellent mountain biking , interspersed with good drink and food for recovery :)
Training for first 10k with ambitious goal of 50 minutes.
just getting over a bad case of the flu so i’m shooting for a long slow distance run of at least an hour
Notice that Viva 4iii HR strap! I’d love to have it to collect my ANT+ power meter data and port it to my iPhone!
My next workout is actually a race Manson Lake Road Race in Washington!
Notice that Viva 4iii HR strap! I’d love to have it to collect my ANT+ power meter data and port it to my iPhone!
My next workout is actually a race Manson Lake Road Race in Washington!
Notice that Viva 4iii HR strap! I’d love to have it to collect my ANT+ power meter data and port it to my iPhone!
My next workout is actually a race Manson Lake Road Race
5 mile Easy Run
Using plan from Hanson’s Marathon Method. Just about to finish the Build phase. Btw, this is one of the best books on run training available! Excellent information for anyone!
Happy Running!
10:00 Warm up
Interval x 4
Interval: Zone 4 10:00
Recovery: 4:00
Cool Down 10:00
Stretching
Hilly brick workout
5 sets of 1 mile bike climb followed by 1 mile run at race pace Repeat twice