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.
My workout log for the last week-end was a 6k tempo run on saturday and a bit of surfing on Sunday to replace my usual 1h30 bike ride :) Gotta love Australia :)
Swam Bondi Beach to Bronte Beach in Sydney Australia…… no jellyfish, hardly any waves… Pretty much called “Lake Bondi” by the locals—- Alyse (originally from Hattiesburg MS)
I’m recovering from knee surgery last year, so a short mile run and some swimming.
man i suck, but swim bike and run. trainer and tmill
Hey Ray. Did some walking. Had planned a weekend ride, but got side tracked during the day and missed my window. Not a very robust training week. Sigh.
Celebrating being injury free with a 20-mile road run w/ 3k gain.
I have pneumonia, so my training week was spent wishing I was training and getting a good sweat going walking from the couch to the bed.
I ran 26kms of traisl with friends doing a recon for a future ultramarathon.
Snow outside translates to treadmill inside
Had to long for my bike while doing tax’s most of the weekend, squeezed in a ride at lunch on Friday and several km’s pushing a stroller Saturday and Sunday.
60km and 1200m vertical on the bike, with three climbs. Hard work for me!
I was supposed to do a 12km tempo run on Sunday, but I shin in the morning. It was reshuffled.
Saturday – 1 hour 45 minute Z2 HR ride – on the trainer with Zwift
Sunday – 1 hour 15 minute Z1-Z2 run
2 weight training sessions and 4 bike trainer sessions. 128.3 km and 6h 20m of duration.
Saturday was a quick 5 miles. On Sunday had 20mi scheduled but also had a half marathon, ended up doing 4mi before the half marathon and a couple of miles after.
Several hundred metre walk to catch an Uber; followed by several trips to the bar for beers n’ burgers. Dancing definitely provided some anaerobic activity. Overall a great B-day weekend
My training was 1hrs of Sufferfest “Violator” and 4.5hrs of Judo and giving 2 classes of 1hrs of Judo.
We recently had a Personal Trainer join our Soccer Team. He took us for a session focusing on strength.. WOW my legs are still burning !!! Arrrrrrrhhhhhh….. lol….
20 mile training run to get ready for Rock n Roll New Orleans.
90 mins on TrainerRoad indoors on Sat. Then played Battleship with grandson on Sun. followed by 1400 yd swim including a 650 yd time-trial (supposed to be 600 yds but miscounted).
I had my long run on the cold and drizzly Saturday morning; 14 miles with a grim look on my face. Nice to have smiles on the faces at home when I got back (and a cup of something warm).
Friday night – 12k Tempo Run
Saturday AM – 110k Group Ride (flat & fast)
Saturday PM – Critical Rehydration (5 beers)
Sunday AM – Intervals 10 x 1km above 5k pace
Two days of sailing. Harder then you would think.
Three Trainerroad workouts while fighting a stomach bug. KO, both me and the bug.
Attempting to regain some local run Strava segment KOMs…… damn that really fast bloke who has 2 Strava accounts that immediately push the next best person to third place :(
2:30 hours tempo run on Saturday and 3 hours of Kickr on Sunday
I run the “El Cruce de Los Andes”, more than 100k crossing the “Andes” range of mountains.
Training Peaks and life had conflicting thoughts about how the weekend should be spent… life ended up winning and no workouts made it :(
Lots of laps staring at a black line.
I did some recovery work leading up to a Lactate Threshold test with my new BSX insight gen2
Sadly I’m stick and will stay in bed. No training for me :(
Well I did absolutely no training at all. Between brunch with my 10 yr old, driving her to dance, teaching Sunday school, my 4 yr old’s birthday party and chauffeuring my 15 yr old around, most of my sweating was running to and from the car.
Saturday: 13 km nordic skiing.
Sunday: rest!
Let’s try this again, I just commented on the wrong post! :) I got out for a 5km with my other half. Still quite brisk out :)
Endurance trainer session and rest day!
94km group ride. 4x15m sweet spot intervals, motorpaced by the coach’s new e-bike. Endurance pace for the rest of it.
7mile race pace run Saturday before in laws and outlaw visited. A surprising “brick” 35 min turbo bike and 30 min tempo run on Valentine’s Day while Mrs contemplated swimming!
Well last weekend was a bit of a washout. It was my son’t 4th birthday party so the primary workout was chasing a group of 4 year olds around the back yard!
A bit of bike. More than a bit of hiking. And snow shoveling. Lots of snow shoveling.
Unfortunately nothing, due injury, but almost there and planning to get moving very soon :)
No training this weekend. Ran the Austin Marathon instead with thousands of my closest friends.
This past weekend it was a rest and relaxation. My running shoes and bike were pretty sad!
Hi Ray, after two years of running and 50lbs weight loss at the age of 45, last week I finally signed up for my 1st 10K event in April, a half -marathon in July And still considering a marathon event in November.
Planned 75km riding the hills around Mount Dandenong in Victoria Australia, actual 0km and lots of Different. Result me 0: family 1
Two 1hr + runs, three 2 hr bike rides and 2 swim sessions
Rbr Sunday totaling 3:15 of work
Swim 3k Monday
Z5 bike Tuesday
Hour run Wednesday
Swim 3k Thursday
Long run Friday long ride Saturday
3km Swim workout on Friday morning. Followed by a short bike session on Saturday. Sunday was a rest day
Recovery week on TrainerRoad specialty phase, high volume climbing road race, 90mins @ 75% FTP on Sat and 2 hours 60-50% on Sunday!
My dad and I dragged my new 310b treadmill from the garage to my basement and set it. I got to try it out the next day.
I did 15km and a 2.500m swim since It was a very sunny weekend here! :D
Currently training for the 120th Boston Marathon. Last weekend was very cold in Buffalo, NY. Sunday it was -12 F when I woke up. Saturday consisted of a 7.5 mile treadmill run at an easy pace 8:34 alternating 1 mile Up @ an incline of 3.5 and 1 mile down at a decline of -3.0. Sunday was my long run again on the treadmill. I ran a total of 18 miles. 1mi wUP @ 6.7, then 2-6 @ 7.0-8:34, Miles 8-13 @ 7.5-8:00, Miles 14-17 @ 8.0-7:30, Last mile was progressive 8.2, 8.4…and topped out at 10.1-5:54 Felt Good!!!
Happy Training
Dave
Training consisted of slower longer runs. Getting back to base building. Looking into getting a bike and trainer for cross training days.
The weather was miserable last week so i only managed a 60k bike ride with the club and then some km’s commuting.
Zwift ftp Interval session, working on my core, and a freezing and muddy 40 miles on the winter bike
I did a long run on Saturday and took Sunday as a rest day.
The wife and I went Snowboarding on Saturday (that counts as training right?) and a long run on Sunday. Then enjoyed a relaxing long weekend with some more running on Monday.
sunday i did a 3Km test after an hard pre workout at lunch! spicy chicken, pasta cacio e pepe and Tiramisu (dessert)
link to connect.garmin.com
Saturday … Swim ..Warm Up 600 (easy)
Drill w/fins 8 x 50 w/15s rest (25 right arm, 25 left arm)AEROBIC 4 x 300 w/30s rest (odd w/buoy, even w/out) Cool down 200 (easy)
Sunday … Bike Warm Up 15 minutes (easy)
AEROBIC 70 minutes (steady comfortable, 110-130 bpm) Cool down 5 minutes (easy) then 30 minute easy run
Low intensity run, first actually in a few months! Also set my trainer up and plan on following a trainer road plan. First scheduled workout plan in a year..
2.4mile swim in morning and a 2 hour turbo session. And a lot of beer afterwards!
35km on Zwift last Sunday :)
A couple of sessions on the bkool. Woke up to -11 (F) Sunday morning.
Saturday: technique training for 1 hour on the bike
Sunday: 1.5 hrs run
Saturday 110 KM TT ride through Canberra Wineries. Sunday “Calf strain” recovery with a 30 minute low impact elliptical session and then 8 KM on the treadmill. Getting there :-)
Crosstraining on the menu, this time it was a solid game of Badminton: and that means intervals, probably a thousand short distance sprints!
Saturday was 30 miles on Zwift using my Garmin Vector 2 power meter and my standard trainer. This is a great training program, but I would love to have a smart trainer like Bkool to use with it.
I attend swimming lesson for 1 hour to improve my style.
120 Minutes on my new Vortex Smart and a 3 mile run on Sunday.
Was supposed to do a 80k bike run, but I had to travel for work instead, so it is postpone to this weekend.
30 mins on my bike testing out a new saddle and avoiding my in-laws
Last weekend was a very chilly 75 minute run through Rock Creek Park.
Getting ready for the DCC cancer century in Miami so took my last long ride (trails in the Everglades) and a short ez road ride. Feeling good and ready to go (would be even more ready with a clever training treat!). FCancer!
Couple sessions on the old Bushido. One hour of intervals and another hour of riding an rlv in Germany
50 mile spin on the bike.
8 miles progression run on Saturday. 13 mile “long” run on Sunday. Slowly coming back!
My longest run ever: 40 Km
The second-last long run before my first marathon
I did ~30 miles with Zwift on the Kickr with Yoga on Saturday and Pilates on Sunday.
Long easy xc ski in prep. for American Birkebeiner on Saturday
Windy ride in flat Miami. Had to pedal hard going down a 5-10% grade hill (bridge), and very glad I don’t have any aero wheels on.
Standard Saturday morning swim with the group that was skipped because the coach was out of town. It was a long weekend here, so Monday’s trainer ride was also skipped because I was lazy. Perhaps with a $600 credit I can buy some sort of “workout motivational tool”.
Thanks Ray and a belated congratulations!
This past weekend was 5′ intervals on Sat followed by a 15k run on Sunday. Horrible weather in the UK
Killer spine class and a quick 5k to get the legs pumping
It’d been a while since I was able to swim. (Since August, to be more exact; in that time my wife and I had a child, quit working at a jail, and became a teacher!)
Finally renewed my subscription to the local pool and hit the treadmill before a quick splash just to remind the body how this floating along thing works.
Into the woods, trail run 21km
On Saturday I did some racing on the bicycle and Sunday I did a long distance run.
I was in Truckee, Ca. So of course i was Nordic skiing and getting some elevation runs in! Good times
Thanks Ray
Bike ride 80K tempo
Sunday bike ride in San Francisco turned into a surprise family get together. I never made it to San Francisco.
Saturday 10 mile run quick
Sunday 22 mile run slow
I walked 3.5 miles and ran 2 miles as part of the painfully slow recovery process for an Achilles’ tendon injury.
Freezing cold 10k around the Central Park loop in NYC…
I’ll be running the track and putting in miles
Last weekend I went for a 20km long slow run of 6min pace. I had to rest and skipped a few session as I was having shin pain. I felt great after the 20km without pain.
Some taper during the week then the Austin Marathon in 88% humidity funness!!!!
Last Saturday I rode 50 miles at high cadence. Coming back from a hip injury which had me wondering at one point if I’d make a full recovery. So I’m really happy win or lose.
Skiing in Whistler
This week I have been battling the flu. I have been just walking 5 to 7 km a day just to keep me going. Hopefully I’ll be good next week.
Saturday: parkrun and a jog home.
Sunday: yin yoga
Unfortunately was sick, so instead of ride my bike I was dying in bed :/
Started the week with some fast laps around Richmond Park as it was such a nice day (rare in the UK for this season!) followed by some yoga and stretching. Wednesday was a training session on Zwift (targeting raising FTP). Friday went for a 5k run, weekend was spent in Paris with the other half (ended up walking about 30k!)
:)