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.
Mon off
Tue Bike 1 hour Z2 trainer
Wed Bike Intervals
Thu 3 mile run
Fri 3 hours of climbing and bouldering.
Sat playground with the kids
Sun Walked the Met in NYC
Swam and biked Saturday
Ran a 5K with my dog followed by another 5K after I dropped him off at the house.
Capped by a round of 12 oz curls.
I raced a 1/2 marathon on Feb 14th. So only had a short race prep workout on the Saturday.
10 K Bike and 10 K walk, to come out of winter :)
I did a long run and some X-Country skiing in southern Germany.
1 hour trainer ride followed with TRX
since i’m fairly new to the triathlon, last weekend i did some basic swim training, trying to get my technic going. Sunday i hit the road and took my bike round a small local island.
My training plan last week was pretty chill. The longest run was 14 miles which we knocked off on President’s Day during a sunrise trail run. I also got in a couple of barre classes, yoga, and strength training.
Due to a broken elbow no training for me in the coming weeks.
Lazy Saturday, hiding indoors from the bitter cold. Sunday, 7 miles on the treadmill.
Rest day on Friday, 10 mile easy run on Saturday and a 2 man relay Marathon on sunday!
I coordinated and participated in a 5K Beer Run!
Ran a 10k on Saturday in the lovely Chicago weather. Chased that with some valuable trainer time doing max intervals to get my legs prepared for crit season on Sunday. Pretty excited for the weather to turn.
group trail run on saturday, recovery day getting stuff done around the house on sunday
Sunday was my 1st day of training for my June marathon. Just trying to get the body used to running almost every day again so it was 5 mi – 5 mi – 6 mi for me.
A three hour brick! (90 min bike + 90 min run) on Sunday!
Tour of Sufferlandria Stage #7 Do as Your Told & a 7 mile run, Tour of Sufferlandria Stage #8 A very Dark Place & Nine Hammers
Last weekend was a bust due to bad weather, but this week we’re enjoying an early return of Spring, so now it’s no-excuses, full-speed-ahead road biking!
The weekend held indoor spinning sessions and strength training while the snow fell outside!
Would have been a group ride if I hadn’t overslept and had to go out solo.
I’ll put the money towards an alarm clock.
Saturday was my long slow run…in -40C weather
2 hours bike: 45min Z1, 2x20min@z2 with 5m break. 30 ,min easy
40 min run after bike@z1
A week of mixing up trail and road running, building up the mileage towards my first ultra marathon!
15k in blazing sun on Saturday felt really good for both the soul and the legs. On Sunday, I woke up with a bad hangover (wonder how that happened, but I suspect my neighbour and the whisky he needed help emptying the night before). I took one of the dogs for a 6k canicross run, but the body felt heavy and unresponsive. Still managed to keep up the pace reasonably, and it felt quite good afterwards.
I completed the LA Marathon. Hit my PR at 3:25:51!
On Sunday a nice 16 km running workout. Not too shabby, not too hard …
Ran a warm up mile from home to a 10k start. Raced a 10k wherein I won my AG. Ran home for a total of ten miles. Then some shenanigans with the wife. It burned calories, so it counts.
Tuesday: Full body workout and 30min run on the treadmill at the gym. Hopefully the weather allows to run outside again, soon ?
Nada. Rien. Nothing. I’m toasted…
6 days of stationary bike workouts. Trying to keep my fitness up for a 100 miler in October. Another two weeks of letting my leg heal and then its back to trail running!!
Easy recovery workout after welcoming a new member to our family ( and future DCR follower).
On Saturday I had a great group ride with some friends for about 30 miles. It was a very common route for this area called the Paperclip.
On Sunday (since it was Valentine’s Day) my workout consisted of my wife and I renting a double kayak in Austin and going up and down the Colorado River. Good couple time!
About 100K on the Bike and 14K runnning. Sadly some health issues have me under observation and I can’t do any effort over zone two or with short recovery. :(
trying to enjoy the time and fall in love again with the sport instead of aiming for specific numbers!
Training towards a half marathon. 2015 was a bad year to me due to injuries and lack of time to train, so trying to get back into the same time ranges, the race I plan to compete takes place mid march
spinning session + Gym – friday
One “long distance” session -18kms – saturday
one easy session – 20 mins 6min/km – sunday just to make sure everything was OK after saturday’s run
Some crossfit workout on gym.
Saturday 20K run followed on Sunday with a 3hr ride+10minute brick run. Enough to keep me out of mischief.
Build up to my Olympic Triathlon next weekend, I did a steady 12 km run on Saturday. 2 km swim + 2 hours ride on Sunday.
I did a long distance run as marathon preparation: total of 30km (9km fast pace + 21km more comfortable pace), duration: 2u23min!
I showed a new member of our running club my favorite trail running spot Jack’s Peak in Monterey, CA followed by a 25 mile suffer fest bike ride in the heat on Saturday!
My last weekend training log:
1. Long build up run
2. 90 minute bike trainer
3. Pool swim
4. Decorate basement or kids’ birthday party.
Friday (I’m counting that as the weekend) I got in a 3,000 yard swim. Woke up Saturday morning and got in a cold and windy 20 mile run with my wife (she had 12 on her calendar) then took it easy the rest of the day. Sunday I took as a rest day to chill out with my wife and enjoy the day.
The holiday helped, so I managed a tandem ride with my wife and a mtb ride with my son. Good weekend!
4mile easy run on Saturday, 1/2 Ironman swim/bike on Sunday, relay – partner did the run.
I had all of 20 minutes on a trainer in my first ride recovering from pneumonia (and I use the term “ride” very loosely).
Friday: 21 miles trail run.
Saturday: Rest.
Sunday: 9 miles road run.
Saturday a went for a small club race, spent some energy trying to get into the break. Sunday was training on the couch.
Two sessions on the turbo trainer, one with short/hard intervals and the other an easy 90 minutes.
Test out the shoulder in the pool after my dog tripped me on run the previous week.
A short run to check I was over my sickness, followed by a 13k trail run on Table Mountain on Sunday.
Long Slow Run, 22 km in 2 hours on river shore.
I ran a very easy 6km on Saturday and then did my first test ride with my brand new Garmin Vector 2S on the trainer on Sunday – after fiddling with the calibration and checking out this site for some detailed advice on the pedals :) Thanks for that, btw! Best resource out there!
10 km ice skating and a 15 km trail run.
stayed indoors since it was below 0 with the wind and ran 13 miles saturday and 12 sunday on my new incline trainer. Ran some trails, some road, lots of inclines and declines.
Well, was supposed to be a 70 minute recovery run after a race the week before turned into a 10 minute run and half hour hobble. That’s pretty much how my weekend log Looked after an injury.
Hour on the rollers on Saturday, 20K speed skating race on Sund, came second.
Ran LA Marathon
Mountain bike ride in -15 cold trails were awesome hard packed.
10k run around the local “Baggersee” (literally digger lake, actually a quarry pond).
Last weekend’s training was ski mountaineering, to prepare for a race this coming Saturday
The weekend’s training was a solid 2x20min @ tempo. Sunday turned into a rest day as I was too tired :)
3.75 on the bike Zn1-2, then a 30 min transition run. Then beer.
Saturday 15k run at 4.20
Sunday bike 4h..
Easy 5km on treadmill.
PT mandated hip and core exercises as I attempt to recover from aggravating a herniated disc :-|
75mile reliability cycle on Sunday
6 doughnuts and three bags of chips – I was exhausted. Next week hope to manage 7 doughnuts.
My weekend’s training log was… short 5k runs on Saturday and Sunday as I’m still recovering from sciatica (man, what a pain that was at the beginning!). It’s waaay below what I’m used to, but at least I’m running again after almost a 3-months’ break.
I made 2 visits to the track to do some speed work, and then rest was on the bike to be ready for last sunday’s duathlon.
Day off on Saturday to taper nicely for a 20 mile race on Sunday, big new pb bodes well for spring marathon!
I had a 4×4, some zone2 work and a gym session.
I got in two 5K runs (in the snow) and an hour on the bike in the basement.
Two and a half hours Zwifting Sat and 11.5mi hilly run on Sunday.
I did an hour long session on saturday with some VO2 max intervals on saturday and spent the whole day on sunday with the GF, so I did no training on sunday.
I road around Richmond with the Zwift WSR group on Saturday and then did Watopia hill repeats on Sunday.
Training for a 210 Mile Relay Race
My training log shows couchville last weekend. Restarted the fire Monday, still burning at 430am today. Good luck everyone
A 16k run, but because I missed the previous week I only did 12k and I’m doing 16k instead of 12k this weekend.
Ran 3 miles along a hilly route. It was nice weather and I wanted to take it easy and enjoy but the hills made it a chore.
Sadly it has been two weeks of sickness. So my workout has been getting out of bed!
I ran 5 miles on the good ol’ treadmill while watching the latest (last) season of 24…good show to keep you motivated on the treadmill.
Injury recovery run of 31 minutes. 60sec run and 90sec walk repeats. Hate injuries!!!
Saturday was a gruelling 6 hour, hilly, freezing (there was actually snow) group ride. Sunday was a 2 hour TT tempo ride.
some mild zwift rides to get back in the swing of things mixed with chasing my toddler around the house to keep her entertained while it was -4billion degrees outside!
Out of town on business this week so I had to double down and get my suffer fest and shut leg workouts in before driving 10 hours. Lots of bike, run, and telling myself to focus and stay motivated.
Cut back on 15k training due to ITB issues: managed about 12 miles last week, but coupled it with about 1200yd swim, a spin class and an Orange Theory workout :-)
Pyramid tempo work out 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 with 1 minute rest between intervals. My aim was to keep the middle intervals 3-4-5-4-3 consistent with speed and cadence while going balls out on the last minute interval.
16 miles progression run. 4 miles easy, 4 at marathon pace 6:30, 1 easy, 3 at marathon pace minus 15 seconds, 1 easy, 2 at 6:04 and 5:56, 1 easy.
I had a 10K race Saturday with my Valentine wife then followed it up with a 2 hour bike trainer session on some DEAD legs. Sunday was a rest day
Thanks for the giveaways Ray and Clever Training!!
My plan sheet is to run about 40 kilometers per week. I`m from Brazil and I am training to run my second Rio de Janeiro half marathon. I run interval trainings and tempo run trainings. My watch is Garmin Forerunner 15, and I have Polar FT1 too. I use Polar to swim at openwater. I have a Garmin 620 too. I use a 620 to educative trainings.
I had a group 16 mile long run along the river in OKC. Come on Memorial Marathon!
30km cross country skiing.
12km on Saturday. Easy pace.
On Sunday 3x2000m at noon. 36°c hot as hell!
Last Saturday rode 40 miles on the tandem with my wife and Sunday 20 miles. Other than that worked about 6 hours in the office.
3 hour group ride with my team Saturday and rest on Sunday.
Bikes in the shop currently, so just a 90 minute run on th Sunday
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 1 hour. 30 min jog.
Saturday: Velodrome: 3K pursuit, take-a-lap
Sunday: Velodrome: Flying 200, Sprint from the back, takes-a-lap
Treadmill-timed runs and bodyweight / free weight lifts
Not a “real” workout, but sort of with gardening and some DIY in the house.
One day, I will be really back on training !
20.1mi on my Tacx Vortex Smart on Zwift!