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.
With my new Garmin Fenix 2 I Cycled on the trainer for 6 and 11 miles. Just installed the Garmin speed and cadence sensors. Love them. Will do my first run with it tomorrow. Finally decided to upgrade from the Nike+ GPS watch I had.
An endurance ride of 2,5 hours. It waas too cold though :-\
4 mile Valentines race on Saturday morning followed by weight lifting on Sunday night.
I did lots of yoga last week!
My training last weekend included a strength training session & an hour and a half long group ride on the trainer. Fun!
Had a nice 25 mile ride with my wife to kick off our endurance ride training. Followed it up with some long walks with the wife for cross training.
On skiing vacation, so no training this weekend.
Half marathon on Sunday on a cold and rainy day.
Just spinning due to back injury
5k Race, four mile easy run, and 25 miles easy ride!
Getting over a sickness (but honestly not not much faster when healthy).
My runs this last week:
Wed, Feb 17, 2016 5:42 PM
1:11:12 time
6.28 miles
Mon, Feb 15, 2016 11:30 AM
37:51 time
3.45 miles
Sat, Feb 6, 2016 5:00 PM
9:31 time
0.89 miles
Sat, Feb 6, 2016 12:40 PM
9:47 time
0.97 miles
Sunday is my day of rest & that rhythm works well for me as a pastor. On Saturday I hopped on the bike (KICKR trainer) early for ninety minutes with 3x20min @ 90% FTP intervals, then transitioned to five mile brick run (easy pace + some strides).
Hit up the concept2 rowing machine
DC Tri Club off season spin on Saturday. Mid-distance swim on Sunday followed by helping a teammate with her stroke.
Leg day- bike intervals
Lots of biking!
100 km with a nasty cold wind. Hopefully spring will arrive soon :)
Non-stop 10 lbs weight lifting for almost 12 hours…
That’s the weight of my 7 weeks old daughter and she won’t stop crying last weekend unless I carried her…so it is a full day weight lifting exercise for daddy!
On Saturday did a a 2 hour ride for a cycle-thon benefitting the Blazeman foundation and then an early 1 hour treadmill (it’s still too cold) run on Sunday.
Due to illness nothing. I am now getting seriously hacked off. I have had little training for the last 6 weeks due to various problems. :-(
10k trail race on Saturday night and 5x12k bike intervals on Sundays (last one hurted!)
Bike interval training two times this week, kettlebell routine, 60 miles on rollers, targeted core and stretch routine… can’t wait till spring
3 days of skiing and 2 treadmill runs at 8,000 ft elevation.
The plan was to head out for a few easy miles on Friday afternoon, but unfortunately poor weather and a half fitted set of ‘guards meant that I stayed at home and worked instead.
I went to the Bike Show in London on Saturday so didn’t ride then, and Sunday was valentines day and we stayed at home… no training for me last weekend!
Did a 8.88km run with Gei Gei Running Club to celebrate Lunar New Year on Sunday. Huat ah!
ce week-end au menu, petite sortie de 50 km à vélo avec un travail en force en cote et en vélocité en décente.
Ca va piquer….
A session at the climbing gym. Great fun!
Saturday 80km cycling and Sunday 4100mt swimming.
Training for Ironman 70.3 Pays d’Aix
I’m shifting up my usual marathon/triathlon goals this year, doing a lot more weight and circuit training so I can complete the GoRuck Challenge in May. So that means lots of weighted runs, metabolic circuits, lots of squats and burpees. What fun!
Friday – 10k race as a pace test for upcoming marathon,
Saturday – 11k recovery run
Sunday – 12k tempo!
35 mile Sunday morning ride up into Sierra foothills and back.
Swimming and Skiing!!! Great weekend for skiing in the Great White North
Tried yoga to deal with knee pain on Saturday. On Sunday after pain medication went out for a nice hike.
I live in a pretty cold area with lots of snow, so I have been doing indoor cycling using the Stages Indoor Cycling bikes. I do 3 sessions of about 1 hour and 1 about 1.5 hours. My goals are to lose weight and improve my power output.
One mile repeats at the track and a trail run.
5k on treadmill
Was able to briefly ditch the indoor training with a break in the Seattle rain and get a good ride in outside. Looks like this coming weekend is more indoor training though…
I did 2 hours on the trainer on Saturday and an hour run on Sunday
17 km trail run instead of road long run. Preparing for May and June trail races. Great weather for easy forest run.
Saturday: Indoor Treadmill Hill Interval Run with Sports Club Running group – 4.79miles and then Sunday outdoor (16 degree with wind) 4.4 miles – freezing my a## off.
I got in a 6 mile training run. Split it up into a 3 mile warm up and then did an inaugural 5K race. Great run with great friends!
1:30 zone 2 ride on the bike followed by an easy 1:15 run with some hills worked in.
Saturday – easy spin
Sunday – 1/2 Marathon on a hilly course and missed PR from 4 weeks prior by 3 minutes
Monday – easy spin and swim technique with tri coach
Sat: off
Sun: 14 mile run, LSD
On Saturday I raced a 5k (on a snow covered path in 9 degree temps!), then a long 15 miler on Sunday
Took a much needed rest on Saturday, then a 15 mile city run on Sunday!
Saturday: Easy 9 mile trail run and then hill repeats on Sunday.
Running on a treadmill
Training log shows 6 hours of moving.
8 mi on Sat (mostly on treadmill) and 15 mi on Sunday (training for a marathon!)
Coming back from a knee and hip injury. Slowly getting back into running with a 30 min run in preparation for a trail run this summer!
2 1/2 hrs of Technical MTB riding at Hartland trails Victoria BC
Down week in my half marathon training, 7 mile “long run” and 45 min trainer ride.
I did two days of interval runs, about five miles each; one 40 minute recovery run, one long easy paced run and circuit training.
Did 10 mile run on Saturday and 6 mile run on Sunday.
Went for a 10k easy run on sunday. Plantar fasciitis is back. Stopped at 5k
Cross-country skiing, weight lifting and a zwift ride
I had a 3.5hr brick, ugh! 2.5hr trainer ride (including a 30 minute Critical Power test…which hurt) and a 1hr run.
No workouts this weekend unfortunately due to an injury.. :-(
Did some Gym workout and Intervalls on the Ergometer to prepare for skiing holiday.
Half marathon race: 1:28, PBed it!!!
I did a couple of very slow 5ks over the weekend due to an excess of food
Did the two trainings (Dana and Carson) scheduled in the General Build with TrainerRoad
Sadly the only thing on my training log from last weekend was 8hours in work. The joys of weekend working.
Had the pleasure of moving my apartment across town.
I went on a 3 mile run, nice weather to be outside.
Focusing on my marathon training I did a 30km on Saturday and 10k interval run on Sunday.
Just 25k steps walking last week
I did a couple of medium runs. On saturday, i did a one hour run and on sunday, a 1:30 run. Both were great runs because they were in a hilly and sunny coastal city in Mexico.
58 – Miles: The start the ride malnourished and lacking in sun and try to finish in time but fail but thankfully my wife could pick me up, Ride. (It appears that my wheel magnet got lost on Tram road and my Garmin was not too happy about it.)
Ran out of steam on Saturday’s big guns ride, so this week has been dedicated to rebuilding my base with recovery and high cadence rides.
Saturday – 2.5hrs endurance zone (Bike)
Sunday – 2hrs intervals (Bike)
2600 in the pool with 4 mile run; 30 min trainerroad with 4 mile post-run; 6 miles in the morning on Carlsbad Blvd (beautiful place to run) with another 4 in the evening just because….
Just trying to run fast enough enough to beat the freeze!
Intervals were out due to icing, so just steady pace effort
Going to gym trying to survive the Winter
Saturday I had a 5.5 mile run (early on in my half marathon training). Sunday I rested, as I started to come down with something.
Thanks for all your great product reviews!!
I ran a long run Saturday and an easy run with the wifey Sunday afternoon.
Recovery day Saturday and stead swim on Sunday
Sunday I ride 57 km.
I have been doing a FTP improvement plan via Zwift with lots of OU and SS sessions. It’s getting brutal, but cutting weight and seeing gains is awesome!
I run 15km with my love :)
Ran 6.5 miles on Saturday and went to the gym on Sunday
I went out for a 30 mile ride in 30 degree weather in the DC area. Turned out to not be so bad!?
saturday: 10km
sunday: 15 km
I have broken knee, so easy swim only :(
Played soccer, did the treadmill for 30 min.
Pool swimming and cycling on a trainer on sunday.
I had a Saturday’s 12 Km run and a Sunday’s 35 Km climbing ride.
Training for Tuscaloosa Half Marathon on March 5, unfortunately been sick with flu like symptoms. So training runs were lite, to try and push all the crud out of my lungs. Also, I did have to find my inhaler(puff,puff)
4 hours cycling ! Hope any show in Paris…
Base building bike workout with my wife and a brisk run with the dogs.
Long run in freezing conditions around washington but beautiful anyways!
4 intervals of 30 minutes in power zone 3 on the trainer. Follow with a quick transition run.
Light gym work followed by a long run the next day!
Barcelona Half Marathon!
I was on vactaion, riding my bike around new orleans. So its lots of 15 minute rides at 15mph
My training is on hiatus until I address a torn ligament :(
Just went for a 5km on saturday and a bit longer (one and a half hour) on sunday.
Part of the “fun” of having a high-energy breed of dog is going for runs is a requirement.
Did an easy paced 5 mile run along Lake Michigan. Saw some cool snow dunes on the way.