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.
Struck down in my prime with man-flu I only managed to muddle through a slow 20k on Sunday after being trapped indoors on Saturday, catching up on old DCR in-depth reviews I’d missed.
Unfortunately not much as i was coming back from a cold. one 90 min tempo ride.
1.5 hours a warm-up, some spins, then progressives on the trainer for Saturday, Sunday was a rest day :) Gotta LOVE those recovery days!
Friday: Antelope – TrainerRoad 1:30
Saturday: Too cold to run outside, so 25 mins easy Treadmill
Sunday: Masters swimming (3400) 1:30
10K LSD on trails :57
Run a 14k first time after my injury with the second half really faster than the first one.
It was the taper week at the end of the Build Phase on TrainerRoad so I took the weekend off the bike/trainer and went outside for some leisurely winter walks (and had a few extra pints).
My workout started on Friday with 5 miles and 75 each of step-ups, sit-ups, and dips, followed by 4 miles on Saturday morning before enjoying a weekend of wine tasting with my wife & best friends!
Just a short one – about 4 miles. Still recovering from illness, was trying to pick a route through fields and hills to find a route to commute to work – unfortunately failed :(
Lots of time on the bike in the basement.
Several soul-crushingly boring treadmill runs, a weight lifting session at the gym, and a snow shoe hike around the lake with the family. Rewarded myself with a couple pints of Left Hand Brewing’s Milk Stout on Saturday.
Thanks Rey. Two turbo sessions for me – roll on spring so I can start cycling outside again!
I’m doing a Beachbody program right now (Hammer & Chisel) so I was lifting heavy and taking names all weekend!
Satuday morning I had a football match with co-workers.
Sunday morning I did an “intervall shopping with stairs” with my girl ;)
I ran and swam all week without missing a day! A first for me!
12 mile pace run Saturaday and 6 mile easy run Sunday
Did my T25 workouts and stripped wallpaper in the kitchen and repainted. Saving running for the week.
Well we got 51cm of snow. That’s 20 inches for our US friends. So I shovelled 3 driveways twice and pushed 5 cars out of the snow banks.
Weekend training included an 11 mile long run on Saturday and a 6 mile run on Sunday. Also completed a leg weight workout on Sunday afternoon that left me quite sore by that night.
Saturday: 14km 1:30 Classic XC ski with 20 min of intensity.
Sunday: 10km 1:00 Skate XC ski
Thanks for doing these giveaways, hope I win!
I mainly planned to eat a lot of stuff I wouldn’t normally eat because valentines day gave me a handy excuse
Two sessions to Siena’s Velodrome!
Just startet a six weeks plan for a 10k last week, so this weekend I went for a temporun on saturday and a nice, hilly LSD on sunday.
Sadly nothing but an easy ride around the local “park”. Still trying to recover from surgery. Hope that does not disqualify me, coz I would love to get my hands on that Fenix 3 HR. Would sure help with motivation, in the battle agains -5 C outside.
There was a 2.4k traininingswim on the program, but the flu decided otherwise..
I did a little taper consisting of two easy 5 mile runs and a 5 mile tempo run.Then ran my favorite race of the year, the Hagg Mud 25k!
Did 44 miles as a recovery week and last weekend, as part of that, I did a 14-mile medium-long run. I’m 6 weeks out from a marathon, so I’m in the middle of the most intense phase of training. Down week last week, hard week this week.
The A1A Fort Lauderdale Marathon on Sunday. A nice, long run. A short jog Saturday to loosen the legs.
Great giveaway this time Ray, thanks very much for holding it.
My Valentines training was actually a very muddy and very wet 10k race in Bagshot, Surrey, UK
Cheers!
Had to get into the woods for some nice trail running, just the usual.
Squats til i couldn’t walk. then ran 5k.
On saturday I did a 21.5 km morning run with a time of 1 hour 56 minutes that was impressive, and on Sunday I did some morning mountain biking with a course lenght of 26 km! Pretty busy weekend! ha!
Sat – Progressive Run 6Km z1+6km z2+6km z3. // Swim: 30′ free swim
Sun – day off (thanks God!)
base miles and hill repeats.
An 85 km ruther flat ride up and down the Athens coastal road with three friends, including a generous 2 hours …. coffee stop….
40 miles and relatively flat. Trying to slowly build up cardio and endurance towards a double metric.
Mostly rowing this weekend – 2 longer sessions in the evenings.
Wanted to do some swimming but couldn’t find time :(
Does chasing kids around at a kindergarten mini-golf birthday party count?
My training log last week was to workout… once… run/bike/swim/get off the couch… anything. About to be a new dad myself, finding out that this kid will consume all of my time, even before it arrives!
A 3 hour ride, all inside on the trainer…good times!
A little trainer ride on Saturday morning with a long swim Sunday and a good tempo run
80k ride on Saturday followed up by a 15k run on Sunday. Nice and easy.
Saturday was stair climbing and indoor rowing.
Sunday was weight training for the chest and back.
I commuted to work on my bike. Getting faster!
Fast group ride 60+ miles on Saturday and a 45 mile recovery ride Sunday. The weekend before my 15k maybe I shouldve been running…
Saturday was rest day, well from exercise at least, Sunday weights and a couple mile run.
Workout-wise, the weekend was actually a little disappointing. There was supposed to be a couple of long runs in there, but Saturday was a bust due to traveling and missed opportunities, and Sunday was only 4 miles due to a list of excuses I gave myself, but that really don’t hold water. Here’s to hoping this weekend is better.
Despite the disappointing workouts, the weekend was actually a lot of fun! A quick get-away with the wifey was just what the doctor ordered!
Saturday was a 90 minute trainer ride (3×20@85%), Sunday was supposed to be a 21K run, but -35 degrees C weather outside pushed that to Monday.
Swim Saturday. Swim and bike Sunday. Swim everyday!
10.5-mile barefoot run outdoors in 5-degree windchill on Sunday. Yeeha!
just a couple easy 5k.
I had planned to do a 30k run, but got hit my some bad snow and bailed after 8k. Luckily I had already logged a nice 3h winter ride on Saturday :-).
Saturday was -18 wind chill so I did 1:32 of biking which included 1 hour of spin class(climbing lots), followed by 1.5 mile brick run on treadmill, followed by 45 minutes weights. Sunday, calm and 5 degree but ran on dunes and trails at the state park. Later did a 30 minute swim at the Y to loosen up legs.
13 miles @ HMP+30. 10 weeks out to Vienna Marathon.
First double digit long run since Star Wars Half at Disneyland in January. Gearing up for my own March madness, training for the Mercer Island Half which is quite hilly. You train for Mercer by running Mercer.
Hi Ray
Intervals in Samanes park, after that some biking in Bucay.
Circuit training on Saturday morning, then on to the pool for some swimming. On Sunday, it was interval training on the treadmill.
cold 5K race, “love the run you’re with”, first time actually racing a 5K!
rode an easy 50 miles
Actually I wasn’t training but compeeting.
On Saturday I was compeeting in Skiathlon, 7 km of classic technic and 7 km of skate, some warmups and cooldown. On Sunday American relay was on list. It was 3 1 km sprints of free technic.
After my saturday race, when I made my PB, I made few kilometers with my Love to recovery my legs :)
Started the gorgeous Saturday morning with a 10k run followed by a little gym workout in the evening. 90 min of Zwift-goodness on Sunday.
Trained for half marathon in Bucharest on 15 May and run 15.63 km on Sunday
Finished in 1h:33m:18s with Avg Pace of 05:58 min/km and improved my 10k time from 1h:02m:03s in December to 55m:45s now.
Finished the Tour of Sufferlandria of course!!!
One 20 mile fat-bike race (that ended up being about 23 miles), followed by a rest day.
45 mins gentle (slightly hungover) running on Saturday, following by a lovely sunny marathon training long trail run on Sunday.
Interval running in some very cold Northeast weather. Also did kettle bell sessions for core training
A five-mile tempo run, an easy 10k and 45 easy minutes on the trainer.
I did two 2h sweet spot bike workouts, and a really cold 1h run. At least there was snow rather than slush. :)
I did my first half marathon this year: Groet uit Schoorl!
A Saturday 5K and a Sunday 13.1 mile run..
last week was spent alternating between training for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and strength training, and adding yoga into the mix to help my aging joints! ;-)
Two trainerroad rides on the trainer and a quick gym session on Saturday.
I got in my 8mi training run to prep for my 1/2 marathon in a month.
I just did an hour on the trainer. Recovering from Mohs surgery.
Saturday 30 min recovery run
Sunday 50 min interval run
A quick weekend get away to get our 5 year old on skis for the first time. His two year old sister is next…
Still recovering from multiple a back injury but got in an easy trainer ride and “run” on the dreadmill. Have to start somewhere.
Friday: 3 miles, easy, with agilities after
Saturday: 4 miles uphill out, downhill back
Sunday: 3 miles, easy
Easy bike on Saturday and a short race (swim/run) on Sunday :)
On the treadmill watching episodes of “Smarter Every Day” and lifting weights.
Training for the tour of Flanders. Meaning a 100k bike ride on bad tarmac in even worse weather. Why am I doing this again?
Huge vertical (in a chairlift)
Last week was adjusting to my new gym program; 3 workouts there and dreaming of snow-free running paths again :)
Its a recovery week, so just a couple steady pace 2hr rides on zwift
I was supposed to do a 3-5 mile easy day and an 8 mile long run, but let the weather talk me down to a mere 4.5 mile easy day and a long nap.
30K MTB high cadency ride on gravel and asphalt on saturday. Trying to build some power in the legs and some fat burning. crap cold weather, but Sun with no clouds while riding made up for the cold.
90 minute chilly bike ride with my wife on Saturday. 8 mile tempo run on Sunday.
My training plan had a 10 mile run….unfortunately only 0.8 miles got executed and logged before my knee started complaining. Hopefully a week of rest will be enough to make this weekend more productive.
Two indoor cycling workouts, one VO2 max and one endurance, totaling three hours and combined TSS of 175.
I went to a functional strength class and then worked all Sunday…
Friday was a Threshold workout on the trainer Z4 for 1 hour; Saturday was a 2 hour Z2 ride for 30 miles. Sunday was a recovery/technique session for 50 minutes focusing on single leg drills and high-cadence work. Monday was an outdoor trail ride on the fat tire bike for 18 miles.
Lazy weekend, just a short 1.25 mile run with my dog.
two hour crosstraining and muscle mass
Chased my toddler around on Sunday
Did some good ole Vermont skiing on Saturday. Then the next day a snowy 7 mile trail run
It was a fun weekend with some skiing and running.
Nothing very structured really. Just try to hit my cycling 200 mile goal with a mixture of different types of ride intensity. Trying to get some weight off at the moment.
One hour spin class Saturday morning. Weights in the afternoon. Shred 415 (HIIT run and weights) class on Sunday morning.
Too much travel with work, so only managed two sessions on the Turbo Trainer
Training this week .. walking and indoor cycling (lots of it ). .