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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!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
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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!
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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.
Still running, i like winter in France
I live in Moscow. And this year autumn is pretty warm.
So making the same number of street run in a week makes you acclimatized quite fast.
I use the onset of Germany’s cold, wet winter as an excuse to buy the latest and greatest snivel gear and then go running in my shorts and a worn out old hoody. This approach keeps the snivel gear clean and looking great for those days off when I act like I may go running at any moment to keep my wife from assigning me some menial household task.
Actually, I just try to suit up and get out there regardless of the weather.
Wear layers and plan for the mud season in sunny Oregon
If the temperature falls below 10 degrees turn to indoor trainings (tradmill, streatching ,,,)
Spending more time in the indoor pool.
I used to change to skiing and swimming:) since I live in the Alps, but this year the money will be tight (again :)) so I have to be prepared to run in all conditions.
Will do more crossfit and also use the informe Nike trainer for the next 4 months until the weather improves again!
In regards to running: On the odd occasion we’re having a winter where the snow/ice is too much to be able to run (safely) is stay indoors and do cross training.
Now kitesurfing is another matter – I usually surf as long as there’s no ice on the water, but shorter sessions than in summertime. If (And this is really rare in Denmark) the water does freeze I slap on skies or snowboard and go snow/ice-kiting :-)
I leave my sunglasses at home and use no sunscreen. Maybe put on more layers. But that’s it. Just keep the same interval and enjoy the weather. Cold wet, windy. Just bring it on.
I change half of running to XC skiing.
I am one of those lucky people who live in New Orleans. In fact we have to adjust our exercise regimen for summer rather than winter down here. When it gets unbearably humid, I run more on treadmills indoors.
Live in Tel Aviv, Israel, training for the ISRAMAN (full ironman) in the winter.
So, I train more in the winter, cause the summer is too hot.
no snow in here, but swimming in an open pool while raining, cycling indoor and running on the treadmill is no fun.
Luckily it rain 3-4 days in a mouth during winter time :)
continue training in daylight hours
All about the Wattbike for me and using the treadmill for some fartlek speed/hill training.
Lucky for me the outdoor pool I use is heated. Always makes for a great swim session.
I’m lucky enough to be living on the Gold Coast, Australia. So I don’t have to change anything at all because it is beautiful one day and perfect the next
In San Diego… I just go for long bike rides :)
Living “under” Italian Alps let me continue with my schedule on mountains around here: in winter is really more wide and challenging! :)
(btw … no snow yet)
I’m trying not to change anything. Sometimes when wheather is winning I’m just changing interval trainings to slower ones
I don’ like changes so there is none :-)
Beautiful watches!
Ray, I living in Poland but for je weather does not matter. Running and bikeing all year beacause I hate stacionary tredmills:)
some bike, some run,
In the winter, I typically play ultimate frisbee, sprain an ankle or break a bone, then transition back to running and cycling through swimming and physical therapy.
I live in northern california, so it’s nearly like Hawaii. Except colder. Maybe we get to have snowsports this year?
Living in the Netherlands I move to spinning on the stationary trainer at the local gym. If the weather allowes it I try to take the MTB out once every weekend
Grow a beard. Warm up indoors, layer with wool, including a buff thing, cool down indoors. Everything else stays including the post workout coffee. It is great to get a good ice build up on your beard during a long run.
As a runner I find the best way to train in winter is as part of a group, and better still with a target race in mind.
That way, irrespective of wind, rain, and the cold, you pitch up. You don’t want to be the guy who lets your mates down, and the vibe of the group generally makes up for the weather.
* and fortunately we don’t have snow where I’m from :)
I run or train with indoor bike roller.
I still sweat even if it is 30 degrees out. No stopping me…. until I get flu. Why don’t I live in Hawaii again?
Trainer + treadmill = insanity
But much difference, maybe an extra layer outside, but I only live in the UK.
Winter? What winter? Greetings from Athens, Greece! :-D
Hello, I’m going todo other sports like skiing, swimming, running…
I definitely try to get my rides and runs done in the daylight. Still ride and run at night with light if I have to. :-)
I must clarify that this is my first serious year into cycling, started last March. Been done 10’000 kilometers so far, reading and learning a lot. So, this is my first winter. I have been able to ride in the rain, but last two weeks have been sunshine here in Portugal.
The change I am making is not to ride that hard, being more cautious since some rides are in total darkness, so invested in a good set of lights.
Still learning a lot, but getting better and understand my body’s response to training at different intensities. Also, since I do not have much time I’m enjoying 1h to 1h30 rides, something that I wasn’t even considering in the Summer.
Ah, one more thing. I have a Polar V800 and a new entrant, the edge 520 that I received… Yesterday! So a Fenix would be super nice to have :).
Keep up the excellent work in the blog, it is a “standard” in the triathlon world.
Best wishes!
Paulo Neves from Portugal
training through winter just means wrapping up and constantly having to dry wet kit!
I keep training outdoor the whole year, I just adapt clothing with a layered approach and do more road cycling than road inline skating due to wet roads in the winter.
Having moved from Canada to England I am definitely enjoying the full year of cycling and running outside, and only having to move swimming indoors. But I do miss some of those snowy runs.
I used to run out side to -20 degrees C. Then onto the treadmill. Cycling on the turbo trainer in the basement watching Netflix!
Recovering from the injury right now.
Generally, late fall and early winter is mostly off-the-bike period with more crosstraining.
Change the Racebike for a Mountainbike and change Running shoes for Trail shoes, from Tarmac to mud
Her in Denmark the winter gets cold, but i train the same all year round. I run tuesday, thursday, saturday and sunday. The other days i train in the gym.??
Winter = Fat bike, indoor pool and KICKR
Live in a country where I actually doin’t need to change anything !
One of the many perks of living there (along with the possibility to open water swim any time of the year without gear -> Is that a perk though ?)
Living in green but bit rainy and windy Ireland ;) Turbo, strength training , pool and outdoor running ;) With big focus on the gym and pool ;)
Less training outside… more at gym….
Not the perfect solution
I just refuse to acknowledge winter and keep working out as in the rest of the year. Yeah, well, there might be a couple of days where it’s just to ugly to get outside, but those are few…
For winter time, I just add a head lamp an switch to cross country ski if there’s enough snow :D
Ski and indoor trainer instead of outside Road, cycle and running.
adding an layer and putting on touring skis..
always warm in Istanbul…
Korfball year round, which is both indoor/outdoor. Indoor from Oct-April. Running and Cycling has diminished… Doing more strength training.
Almost xc-skiing season here in Finland :)
Irving in SoCal, adaptation to winter is pretty much limited to owning a jacket
I am adapting for wintertime mainly by moving over to the studio (Spinning, treadmill and increased athletic training ie. kettlebells and slingtrainer) and indoor swimming pool, while I try to run outdoors as often as possible. In general I tend to increase the workout count per week while I reduce the duration per unit, mostly due to the fact its more boring running on the treadmill indoors, but also due to the bad weather conditions and in order to prevent negative impacts on the immune system – staying healthy has highest priority since you can’t train at all beeing sick.
In the winter, I keep on rocking the same way I always do.
I live in the Netherlands so the weather can turn as bad in the summer as it usually is in the winter.
Commuting by road-bike to work, outdoor “bootcamp” trainings during evenings , MTB in the weekends.
Weather is overrated.
I do shorter sessions at midday because running in the dark is less appealing.
I carry on as normal, train outside on my MTB as well as inside. Only when it’s really cold I will go iceskating and hopefully XC-skiing.
More indoors – Gym/swimpool, and mountainbiking.
In winter I add speedskating to tri sports; the only “indoor” sport for me in the Netherlands
Rollers if its raining, MTB if its not
Adapting to winter ? I’m living in Singapore, so we don’t have winter here (hot and humid all year long), but instead, we have rainy season. It’s just a matter of going out when it’s not raining, then go to gym or do the static at home when it is !
I tend to do longer but slower runs
Lots of trainer rides…and running in the rain…and skiing.
Used to play (field) hockey, this concentrating on tri and now with a coach so will find out soon (theme so far seems to be pretty similar to summer but winter hasn’t really hit)
I try my luck
The time of year to switch to riding on the track! (if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby)
Training to second Marathon will start soon
not living in Hawaii but in a place that has really hot weather year round, winter is a nice chance to train in the middle of the day without melting.
I expect to run and ride my bike a lot to recover my recently broken arm…
I’ll try to pick up running again, and maybe i’ll dust off my indoor trainer.
Run with a head torch and accept the fact that it’s going to be dark and lonely for the next few months.
I’m living in Vienna, Austria. Most of my training is running, the only thing I change there is the thickness, longness of my shirts.
In summer I nomally do some MTBing or hiking, this I change to touring (backcountry skiing) in winter. For this kind of activity the Fenix 3 would fit very well!
I live in Melbourne, so its not too bad during winter. Plus we antipodeans are moving into summer now (hurray!). During winter, I just rug up and mix both indoor training and outdoor trg!
Winter time for me, means more rest and less trainging – I don’t like indoor nor rain…
Outdoor cycling > Indoor cycling, more concentration on cadence and watts.
Swimming open water > indoor swimming pool, more technics.
Run > still outside, but only cardio pace and more in trail.
Would be nice to upgrade from TomTom MultiSport Cardio to Fenix3 for newbie in triathlon :)
Winter will probably come with less running, zero biking, but hopefully some cross country skiing added, given that we get to see some snow in Latvia.
I just bought a new Tacx Vortex Smart to improve my biking during the cold and long evenings.
I switch from cycling to running, heading to the treadmill when necessary due to weather!
I am fortunate enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, besides some rain (hopefully more this year), the weather stays temperate enough for me to be able to run year around. I enjoy running in the rain quite a bit and the trails here are beautiful rain or shine.
Doing more workouts in the inside
I just smashed my fenix, could use a replacement :)
I will try to start very early in the morning in my garage – there the weather is just fine and is always dark anyway… (I don’t get as depressed as going out before sunrise)
Winter in Queensland is marathon season, therefore peaking, tapering, and racing
Hi Ray, no changes here in Darwin, it’s just hotter and wetter in the humid wet season. I must admit though that I purchased a wahoo kickr when I saw your report on trainers…so on Occassion its full aircon, full fans and smash up the hills in Watopia..very little real hills here!
Would really like to use this in Norway, cross country skiing !
I run on a treadmill
I have purchased a Taxc Vortex Smart trainer so that I can continue with my workouts during the winter months and not have to build up everything from scratch from March onwards.
Thanks for the gorgeous trainer recommendation article, it helped me to choose the best one for my needs/possibilities.
Hi,
In winter time I just take my cool warm running hat, my wind-proff jacket and long pants. Also doing slow long-runs more then intervals.
IK
At worst I put arm warmers on, Sydney is great for someone brought up in the UK
More time on the trainer, mountainbiking outdoors instead of road.
Well I have a rowing machine in the garage which is OK, but the best motivation was to sign up to Parkrun with my sister and sister in-law to force us out on a 5k Saturday morning run every week. Can be a bit brutal though in the winter, last year’s most memorable run was -2c and into a 30 mph headwind!
As I live in Madrid it is harder to run outside in the heat of the summer, so I relish these fresh days, especially when the sun is out. Having said that, during the week if I am not able to run at lunchtime I’ll get on the treadmill and catch up with my favourite TV series, as it gets dark out. As for cycling, that is really a summer activity for me, so I am looking into subscribing to Zwift (first seen here, thanks!).
Still summer in Europe, but during winter I train mainly indoors.
No indoor for me. I keep on running (albeit less distance) and cycling (MTB).
I live in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Winter is pretty much summer, put a rain coat on and you are sweet!
I would love to use it on Mountain Haikes :)
I love the cold and the rain. I just run faster!
I just HTFU (and wear more layers)…
What’s winter? Mostly running and hiking here in California.