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.
Two workout sessions on Zwift.
Friday – Rode SF to Marin headlands, 40 miles, 3600′ climbing;
Sat – walked 6 miles with wifey
Sun – Rode coastal mountains above Woodside, 52 miles, 57 ‘ climbing with wifey
The weather in Philadelphia was too cold for a road ride and I needed a fitness bump… so I tested my physical AND mental capacity and did a 5hr indoor kitchen sink ride on the trainer! It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected! link to strava.com
TRAINING FOR DIRTY KANZA 200
SATURDAY 3 HOUR RIDE AT TEMPO BASED ON HEART RATE
SUNDAY 4 HOUR RIDE WITH 1.5 AT THRESHOLD THEN TEMPO ON HEART RATE
Rode Passo Mortirolo West ergvideo on the computrainer 2X in a row for a double session
Sunday Did a 10K Indoor time Trial to support a Best Buddies charity.
I did LSD (long steady distance) training, 5 easy happy miles.
Last weekend I did an easy 5 mile run, and jumped in the pool for the first time in a while. 2000 yards total in the pool.
45 minute run at zone 2, so boring!
Lots of Zwift and Valentine’s Day ;)
Snowy trail run on Saturday and indoor Zwift session on Sunday.
90 minutes on the CompuTrainer on Saturday followed by some yoga and weight training on Sunday.
Trainer road for 3 hours. Winter in northern MI
Run on Saturday and a bike on Sunday after a long winter’s hiatus…
Nothing I live in CT. It was -15
10 x 200m w/ 2 minutes rest between sets, the 1st workout on the 13.1 training plan I’m using
Base training rides in the cold. Simple and easy :)
In lieu of training, I spent the entire weekend shoveling in -25 degree Celsius weather!
Fri – swim sessions
Sun – rehab run
A whole weekend off the bike, off the turbo trainer, and of course spending some time with my wife!
I’m so happy that resting is also a part of training. :)
1:15 on the bike and some strength work, and for sunday, a 50minute negative split run. :)
I ran in the Hot Chocolate 15K in Nashville. We drove through the night to get there from New Jersey. It was FREEZING cold, but worth it!
I’m rebuilding mileage and focusing on core/strength in the wake of a fairly successful 50K, and in preparation of a marathon in about a month. So 32 miles of running and 5 days of Piyo.
I’m training for a mega ride this summer, so I headed out to a giant hill (27th highest in the UK if you’re interested) and sessioned it for 90 minutes. 4000ft of ascent in total, should set me in good stead for the epic in May.
2h SweetSpot ride on Trainer Road (Golgotha)
Got my butt off of the couch and completed my first week of full IM training. IMLP here I come.
End of an easy/rest week, saturday 2.5h easy ride, sunday off
2.5 hr trainer ride on Sat, 10 mile run on Sunday.
I take Sundays off, but I go to the gym on Saturdays to do upper-body things. I’ve never liked going to the gym, but I spend a couple hours there for the sake of my swimming performance, and it seems to be paying off. My times have dropped pretty drastically (5s/100m) in the last 6 weeks.
Easy 8 miles on the treadmill watching the OTs.
Lots of bike sprint intervals – I’m preparing for my first crit.
Working on ramping up the milage, but had a cold last weekend, so didn’t get any workouts in. Better now, back to work again today.
I did a 13 mile run on Saturday and a 90 minute trainer session on the bike.
Thanks and HUGE congrats to you and the girl!
45 min run monday to thursday, 1 h bike on friday and saturday. 1h swim on wednesday.
Indoor time at the gym…10 minutes on the elliptical for a warm-up followed by weight training and then 30 minutes on the bike to finish up.
A nice low HR aerobic run in the “Polar” vortex.
I ended up doing 22 mile treadmill run to avoid subzero windchill.
Last week included two 5k runs, 20km on the indoor bike trainer, and two days of cross-fit during lunch at work. Now that I’ve written it down, it sounds like an accomplishment!
I was lucky enough to spend the whole weekend downhill skiing at Silverstar in British Columbia. We booked a ski holiday, to escape the sub-Arctic for a few days. After 6 hours of skiing each day, I didn’t have anything else left in the tank!
40/20 intervals on the bike trainer
I did Friday and Saturday on Zwift with my Tacx Smart Genius. Loads of fun. So addictive too. About 45 miles.
Nothing. In Manhattan consuming all I can.
I ran a 5K for Valentine’s Day, the girls got a 3 minute head start and the boys had to chase! Also did a long run, 15 miles.
Long ride through the battlefields!
I did a speed workout in the windy slushy weather, and still hit my pace on all six 1km repeats.
Saturday, February 13 raced in the Martha’s Vineyard “20” miler which got shortened to 15.4 miles because of concerns about cold weather. On Sunday the cold weather appeared and that meant 2 hours in the basement riding and watching “Black Sails.”
2 sessions of insanity and a session on the turbo with trainerroad.com
Oh and a walk
Weights on Friday, cross country skiing on Saturday and Sunday! I also built a ski-in/ski-out back country igloo, which turned out to be much more work than I expected. Can we expect Garmin Connect to add an igloo building activity option in the near future?
1 hour bike ride followed by a 30 mins run
Saturday 17 mile long run (on my own bored senseless) Sunday sneaked 3 hrs off work to bike round cheering club members doing valentines 30K
Working on building the trainer base, and not losing what I already have. Running when i can. It is damn cold in Maine, just waiting for spring. 100ish miles on the trainer, and only 7 miles running.
Unfortunately not more than 2x20min at 2x rHR on cycle trainer.
I had a cold and the flu back to back :(
Did “fast finish 7” from Matt Fitzgeralds book “80/20 Running”.
Well I was supposed to bike my first 100km on Zwift. Then we had a farm emergency and that went out the window. Maybe next weekend. Would love this to put toward a power meter!!
9.5 mile run. Fun fun
Finished up the Tour of Sufferlandria, and then put in a few miles on the treadmill to start to build back up after dropping to almost no running with a foot injury.
Just trying to get some basic mileage on the bike plus some cross training with KB’s .
I did my monthly Fatigue Profile test. It’s the one from “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan. It’s a brutal test which includes everything from 20 second sprints, to all out 1, 2, 5 and 20 minute intervals. It hurt, but it felt good to complete it. Now if only I had $600 to put towards that new, quiet trainer…
Last 2 stages of the Sufferfest Tour of Sufferlandria
Saturday – easy Parkrun 5K
Sunday – 20K close to race pace run.
Neither happened. Saturday busy with work, Sunday gardening + lazy.
Got back on track with hill reps on Tuesday.
4 mile run on Saturday and 10 mile run on Sunday. Man, it was cold!
Unfortunately my training log for last weekend will look much like this coming weekend – Sat on couch. Last weekend because of bronchitis and this coming because of my newly broken foot.
Was supposed to run 12 miles Sat. Lazy, only ran 10, broken into 2 runs, 5 miles each. Hmmm, why am I sooo slow???
100k ride on Saturday and recovery on Sunday
I had a mountain race and a long run . Boy was it cold.
Tapered during the week to a Marathon on Sunday (yep valentines day). Finished 11th OA at the 26.2 with Donna where all proceeds go to breast cancer research.
After a week of travelling and fighting the flu I started getting back in gear by jogging/walking/sweating and coughing through a cold 8k lurch
Saturday:
Drop the kiddo off at ski school.
0930-1140 Sprints down the steeps.
1140-1300 Roast beef sandwich bicep curls. Chip and dip wrist pronation and supination drill
1300-1530 Casual groomers with Rush bumping in the ears
1530-1600 2-3 runs at the bottom of the slope with the kiddo.
Sunday:
Kiddo to ski school again.
0930-1200 Moguls
12-1300 Turkey and bacon sandwich elbow flexors and jaw clenches. 1 round neck extension with overhead beer skull crusher (AFAP)
1300-1530 Easy cruising with the gang and Pink Floyd to help the flow.
1530 Meet the kiddo at the top of the mountain for the first time! Hooray!
1545 Kiddo hot chocolate face paint at the Half-way house.
And PS: I love SPAM and sometimes dream about being sandwiched between two pieces of it.
Nothing from a workout perspective. Between skiing with the family and trying to work through a sinus infection, workouts did make it into the weekend schedule.
Took a weekend off because of a litte flu. Now back in training with a 10K run, preparing for the IronMan 5150 in Kraichgau.
A number of training runs. Out on the bike with the kids and downhill skiing.
I was battling an Epic case of the stomach flu and High Pollen count spring time allergies…. AKA I Had a good weekend with the Kleenex box and medicine…
The last two days of Tour of Sufferlandria Sufferfest videos. 9 straight days ouch, power meter would be ideal for tracking
40 minutes on trainer with Sufferfest Elements of Style workout
sprint intervals to get ready for spring rowing season
Saturday was a 1.5 hr run in Z2 and Sunday was a 4 hr ride @ Z2.
Due to the bad weather the training Mount Baldy and Gibraltar from trainerroad on the tacx was on my program this weekend!
7 mile run Friday, 4 mile run Saturday, and 14 mile run Sunday. Missed a day of training time and had to shift to not have a day off before my long run. Training for first Marathon. Oh it was 15 degrees F in West Central Wisconsin for my run. Brrr.
Skiing. Lots of skiing.
We did the Austin Marathon/Half Marathon!
Took a brisk walk!
Saturday (Bike) – 2 hours maintaining steady 200w, with 15 sprint efforts.
Sunday (Bike) – 3 hour high cadence (100rpm+) ride
7 miles fartlek on Saturday and 8 miles steady on Sunday!
Cleared the training schedule to do a Fat Bike race!
Milk run on the course of the Lausanne 20km, under driving rain. Good preparation for the actual run on April 24th, though I hope the weather will be more clement.
Sunday I run the Barcelona half marathon
76Km ride up Calaveras and back (bay area), in between kids’ destination imagination tournament final… 1 strava PR (Happyvalley to Sunol) and 1 2nd overall (Hacienda to Calaveras Dam), which surprised me as I felt _awful_. Played pick-up soccer with the kids and their friends Sunday afternoon.
My comment in Dutch on my 28k training for the Paris Marathon on 3 April 2016.
De 28km ging lekker. Hartslag in het begin een beetje aan de hoge kant, maar toen ik eenmaal in mijn ritme zat was deze ok.
In English:
The 28k went pretty well. HR was slightly high at the start, but when I was in my rythm my HR was ok.
Details in GC: link to connect.garmin.com
I had a mixed week, draft swim session with the club, tempo run, turbo session on the bike (while watching game of thrones…), speed endurance pool set, all finished off with a 100km bike in the torrential rain at the weekend!
On Saturday I did a 55km loosener which included 2 flat box intervals for 4min then coffee . Sunday was a 116 km local race in high winds making a very interesting race .
Saturday I had to do a short run and a long swim. Sunday I did a long slow bike ride.
A solid one hour steady state on the ol’ Zwift and then drove to NYC where I consumed food and beer to offset the past week’s worth of training. Its the offseason!
Saturday was able to get in an hour swim and Sunday was a total wash, a game of bowling with my wife and two daughters, wouldn’t have traded it at all❤️
2 hours mtb saturday with a quick run afterwards, 2.5 hours road ride sunday with 10km run after.
had been planning on fitting an open water swim in somewhere but that never happened
Watching Deadpool on Saturday. 15 mile long run on Sunday.
Exercised configuring a new kitchen this weekend. I’m still exhausted.
Two trainer rides in the basement, trying to get back in shape after recent hip surgery. Looking forward to hitting the dirt this summer!
Saturday was a 3 and a half hour torture ride on zwift. Wanted a metric century and now I want better chamois pad!
Two easy runs in the snow totalling 18km. Thanks Ray!
Sat was 2.5 hours on zwift in z2
Sun was 1.5 hours on the treadmill z2
Saturday: Cardigan on TrainerRoad
Sunday: 7 mile treadmill run w/ 7 x 1min @ 6:00