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I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
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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.
Planned Duration: 1:15
Planned Distance: 0.0 kilometers
Description: Olimpic
WARM UP 15′ Gradually increasing effrot
ME SET 4 – 6 x 5′ at Hr or pace Zone 4 -3:52-4:05- (75′ rec.)
AE SET 30-60 Steady in zone 2
El entreno no puede superar 1:45
Pre-Activity Comments:
Saturday should be a good day to run a decent orienteering run. Expected workout: sub10km, sub1hr:10min, sub160bpm. Expecting minimum ankle-deep snow.
2 hours of cycling in snow covered trails and hopefully cover more than 30km.
On Sunday I will have my long run 1:40h for my half marathon training.
Yesterday I bought kinetic rock and roll trainer and I will start my preparations for my first triathlon.
Just starting again after 3 years (injuries, job, family)!
Hope will be back in shape next year!!! :)
On Saturday I’ll be doing a 20 mile run with a fast final fifteen minutes!
60mins on turbo trainer ramping up the gears for first half and back down for 2nd half at 75% HR.
All while watching Paris-Nice on Eurosport next week!
Just a quick ride on my bike. It has been 6 months since the last time. Ill hope I still can..
Bike zone1 240` with sprints 6X(10″*30″)
Today is my last training before Sunday’s 10k race, so I’ve planned to do a fast 8k tonight (say 4:30 min/km, yes, that’s fast for me :-) ).
10k Run with the first 5k at easy Z2 pace, then last 5k at Z3-Z4 to really push it home!
a cool 4km running this week-end between my son “biking” and my husband running and pushing the daughter’s 3 wheel stroller.
AS
here is a good turbo staple
1hr warm up 130w
8x(100s@ 400w+3mins rest)
10mins cool down (and possibly throw up!)
15 min warm up
2 km at 4.10 min/km
2 min rest
2 km at 4.00 min/km
2 min rest
2 km at 3.50 min/km
10 min cool down
10 min stretching
Run a total of 50 miles for the first time ever next week, running every single day.
Hi Ray,
I’m running my first half marathon this Sunday in Paris.
So my next training will be Saturday, I’ll try the clothes I’ll have for the race and taste the nutrition gel I bought.
I’m thinking of running half hour, quiet slow, with a few fast runs.
Hope it will be enough for the race !
Attempt to set a CR for a 0.6 mile Strava segment near my hometown, where my parents live. Last time I visited I beat the CR by 2 seconds, but the next day the former CR holder came back and tied my record. I’m set to come and win it again outright.
1.5h of cross-country skiing at easy pace (~15km/h), to build endurance.
I’m planning getting back running after a long forced rest period
doing a 10k run without snow. a 2h ride on the racebike outside. a 2k swim inside ;-)
Long Run Ladder
30 Mins Easy
30 Mins Slightly Faster
30 Mins Race Pace
30 Mins Slightly Slower
30 Mins Easy
After a marathon on last Sunday, plan to do a hike of 30km this Sunday.
Two-days mountain orientation race this weekend.
today’s workout during lunch will be an interval training: 1k warm up and then 6 times 1k fast (with 500 meter rest in between), 1k cool down
5K Time trial
My big ‘workout’ this week will be my first half-marathon on Sunday!
The vague plan is for ~7:00 min/mile splits, with the first nearer to 7:30 and the last nearer to 6:45… very vague though, as they say – The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley …
Inspiring 120 minutes running in the Lake District…easy pace!
It’s cold and wet outside, so this evening I’ll be on the Turbo Trainer, then I’ll squeeze in a long slow run on Sunday..nice!
5k slow run
My base period mid-day 1H30 bike training at Longchamp.
~15′ warm-up (2 laps)
4x (1.25 lap in force [53×12] – 0.75 lap speed skill [spinning > 110 rpm])
~15′ cool-down
MTB 6km to school, ride one loop around school (6km), then 1 hour touch rugby, then MTB home.
160 km ride on saturday and 4km swim in the afternoon. Phew!
10 min warm up
8x1k @5k race pace, on the treadmill (1% elevation). 60 sec rest
10 min cool down
I’am taking the fixed for the first biking sessione outdoors.
2×20 @ 90% FTP on the trainer.
About to have my last 5K Run before having an enforced layoff for 3 months.
Both feet to be operated on … hopefully I’ll be back better than I am now
8 mile tempo run, part of training for first Half Marathon.
Goodbye to summer special
1.5km open water swim.
5km run
Both in speedos.
Tomorrow morning starting 6.30am, my mountain biking season starts again in Budapest. It’s been almost exactly 2 months since my last ride and finally most of the snow and ice has melted from the trails. Can’t wait.
today 2h bike outdoor(thx to fine weather conditions) with 10x30s sprint-intervals.
4 times 20 min on the trainer 80% of FTP with a bit of warm up/cool down.
Doing a 45 min threshold run on the treadmill later today.
This morning
2500m in the pool as
300 warmup
8x 50 drills
8x 100 at 15 sec
8x 50 at 10 sec
8x 50 drills
200 cooldown
2 hour easy pace nordic skiing in Bydalen, Jämtland Sweden. Have some back problems. Hope I manage.
Just an easy jog tomorrow; to “warm up” for the Sundays HM.
5 hours ride tomorrow. Easy the first four hours, then hard the last hour.
Weekly Long Slow Run (LSR) in morning
1h 50min at 5:20min/km
Evening 10km at 5:00min/km
Practicing quick recoveries.
Cycling
10 minute warmup to start of climb, including a few short bursts of Z6 power.
5.5km uphill 5% grade at threshold.
Easy descent
Repeat climb and descent x2.
Warm-down 10 minutes.
Home, shower, coca-cola.
Warm up 5 minutes.
Half-marathon in 110 minutes.
Cool down 5 minutes.
I am hoping for a first bike of the season outside. There is till snow, but big roads are dry already. Except, there is one thing – they predict some more snow in the next few days.
If ride does not happen, it will be a run for an hour.
Building up to my first half marathon so I have a 20 km long run planned over a course with a similar profile.
unfortunately I need to get my power back from illness, so only imaginary training :(
Long run this weekend. Going to try and keep race pace for last part. Half marathon in 6 weeks.
A simple 5-miler through the beautiful Wiltshire countryside (in the UK).
Mile 1: easy at whatever pace
Miles 2 to 4: around aerobic max HR without getting out of breath
Mile 5: as fast as I can sustain above my average max pace
swimming:
1000 warm up (400 free + 200 kick + 400 pulley and blades). 2 * 400 fins kick fly V2. 4 * 100 kick V2 (last lap increase to fast) w/ 15″ r. 3 * 66 (33 kick V4 + 33 increase speed) w/ 15″ r. 2 * [3 * 200 pulley and blades V3 exit on 3:30 + 2*100 V1 exit on 1:50 + 2*66 V4 exit on 1:15 + 66 easy]. 200 cool down.
Yesterday two hours of basketball, tomorrow is skiing on the program at the nearby slopes. Maybe I will jump on the bike, for the first time this year if the weather will stay so nice.
It’s not directly related to triathlon but it’s some of my winter workout as I’m living in a mountain part of Europe.
I will go for a ski tour with an ascent of 1200 meters on a 6.5 km track. My goal is to have it done in less than 2 hours.
This Saturday I’ll be swimming 1000m freestyle.
The only rule is to finish and not take breaks or switch to breaststroke.
Run back home from work. This is not easy task for me, 9km/5.6mi and close to 0C/33F temperature.
Not quite finished with the endurance training so will do 3 1/2 hours on the cycle trainer – watching ironman 2012 series from YouTube, and then finish off with a couple of rounds in the local park.
Long run planned for tomorrow…
35 km of comfortable run at 4’30” min/Km pace!
Just got my TrainerRoad account active + coach for the new season. next thing coming up is the 20-min test provided by the guys from TrainerRoads to check my FTP. All out !!
My running coach has put this workout om my plan for next Thursday:
3+2+1 km @ progressive pace 10k racepace to 5k racepace, interval pause 1:30 min
+
3 set x 4 intervals x 300m @ 5k racepace, interval pause 30s, set pause 1 min
It will for sure test my legs :-)
Cross-country skiing 90km (~56 miles) on next Sunday and not get dehydrated or froze to death.
Combinationtraining:
bike first: 15′ warmup @ 150-180w, main 3*(15′ @ 260w – 15′ 200w) – 15′ cooldown @ 150-180w
direct run afterwards: 30min @ 5min/km pace
Since the ice conditions on the roads are getting more cycle friendly I hope to be able to do a couple of hill intervals the next weeks. 15-25 minutes of warmup on flat road and then 4×6 minutes of 80-85% pulse. When running i usually end up above 90%, but my legs does not hold at such pulse on cycle yet.
today, 10 km of easy run…
Bye.
Workout this weekend will involve a 61km ride on Saturday (approx. 2hrs 45mins) followed by a 51km ride on Sunday (approx. 2hrs). Total of 112kms for the weekend all ridden on a mountain bike with a Sony Xperia Active providing the music and recording the speed, distance, cadence and HR using Garmin Fit.
for the last 3 months I’ve got an injury on both my feet, so this weekend I’ve got my first easy run planned since december… hopefully without too much discomfort.
Bike 90 km without hitting the wall
Saturday: 11 mile run Z2 with 4 x 4 min Z4 surges mixed in. Followed by chocolate milk…nom nom nom!
Saturday morning easy run.
Looking forward to the first session back after my wife and I had our fist child – Has been a long couple of weeks but a good rest even with the lack of sleep – Can’t wait for a run on saturday probably 10 miles at an easy pace and then a trainer ride on sunday
20 minutes FTP test following Coggan’s protocol. Looking forward to the pain.
Tuesday: 5k intense and short Fartlek (efforts in Ø 3:00/k, rests in Ø 3:50/k) – final workout for German XC Nationals next weekend
a trail of 1:30 in the hills around Besançon with 500 m of elevation gain and maybe a session of Nordic skiing
Another 3 hour Bushido session in the basement – winter, get out of Tyrol!
Tomorrow…
warm up 2 Km 5’30”/Km;
fartlek 6 x (1,5 Km 4’45” + 1 Km 4’20” + 500m 4′);
cool down 1 Km 5’15”
Do four repeats of hiking of 1,000 vertical foot ski hill and skiing down for recovery.
intervals 6x2km with 90% of HRmax
Im 8 months pregnant with my 2nd child, so on Tuesday when 3yo is in daycare i’m going to hit the pool for a 1200m swim since its the only leg of Triathlon i can keep training for at the moment.
Saturday is swimming time, my target is to stay under 44’/80 lenghts:
a mixture of
8x breaststroke + 8x freestyle
4x breaststroke fast + 4x freestyle fast
Wednesday evening is time for a run.
5mins warm up; Strength; 10 mins speed workout & 10 mins hill workout.
Brick tomorrow, short and fast 20K bike, 5 K run…
…Lots of kicking in the pool, plus try to make 400m in one go fir the first time ever :)
A TT on my bike, 16km from work to home. The ice has just melted here and I’m anxious to set a seasons best as a bench mark for the rest of the spring.
6 x 1000 Interval, and then eat a lot of ice cream.
30 min trail run.
Get into the pool, push start and DRILLS, DRILLS and more DRILLS until it is time to pick up the kids from school. Can anyone make it simpler?
rest today
tomorrow 2.5 hour trainer ride
I’ll do my one-hour daily running
2 hour and 15 minute treadmill run on Wednesday.
4.5 hour Trainer Ride on Saturday…ugh!
Living in Northern Indiana sucks sometimes…
My tommorow traning would be horse raiding for a worm up and then assessment workout ;)
Gee! Had been training for the TNF Singapore City Race 2013 (link to singaporecityrace.com) for a while. Run is this Sun. Gonna run slow and enjoy the city sight! Route unknown til Sun! Will be having fun!
Friday afternoon/evening
Run – 10km, slow tempo
Swim – 2000m, out of that intervals 8*50 fast
Saturday
approx. 20km (1h20m) on cross country skis, after that another 10km running (slow tempo, around 5:30 per km)
Sunday
approx. 30km (2h) on cross country skis, in the evening one hour slow tempo on trainer…
Run a sundaymorning riverside 10k (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) including 2 bridges, trying to stay ahead of my dad! Cooling down: 50k bike ride.
This certainly doesn’t count as a workout, but I’m “layin’ low” until Monday the 4th. Recovering from the flu. Got the vaccination and everything but it still totally kicked my butt and will have been out of commission for 2 full weeks.
Going for a long run. 80 minutes in Z3, followed by 5 minutes in Z4, followed by 10 minutes Z2! Half marathon next weekend.
7.5 km run during my Florida vacation, he he, plus exterior swim.
I’m still recovering from achilles injury, so I’m just planning on 30 minutes easy on the treadmill, hopefully pain free.