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.
11 mile long run on Saturday and a 50 mile long ride Sunday!
21km hilly long run on Sunday and 7km tempo on Tuesday.
100km coast and mountains ride in Cymru , sunny and blue skys and training partner followed by a good cafe stop to round the morning off.
A 6 stage gravity enduro race in Rotorua.
Valentines day run 13.25 miles training for my first Marathon in June.
Too cold outside. I did an interval training on the treadmill for 40 min.
Son’s hockey tournament with Zwift mixed in as time permitted. . .
I got in 46 hilly miles on the road bike and ran 14 miles on trails (not on the same day). And got a long swim in, too!
Tuesday: Afternoon high intensity spin class for 45 minutes; evening core training 30 minutes
Wednesday: Shoulders and arms super sets; 20 min spinning
Thursday: Back workout followed by 30 minute spin
3 days of downhill skiing with 10 kids…..burned enough calories for the entire week
Saturday morning: Run Club (short on time, so just 5K on the indoor track)
Sunday morning: cycling on the indoor trainer (Sufferfest video)
Sunday evening: lifting heavy things and setting them back down.
Downhill skiing – but not as much as I’d hoped due to extreme cold.
Last weekend was a bit of a bust as I had to work so my long run was postponed. Planned on 10 miles Sunday but ended up only doing 8 on Monday. At least it was President’s Day so I had some free time.
#allflashnodash. I thought about training a lot but I’m going thru the third week of a #goutattack so basically immobile except for swimming with a pool buoy.
Saturday, bike: MS: 2 x 12′ (4′) @ Zone4. MS2: 1 x 7′ (5′) @Zone4, 40 minutes @ Zone3.
Sunday, 75 minutes run: MS: 2 x 1.5 mile (5′) @ Zone4. Remainder of run @ Z2
My workouts for last weekend:
– taught 2 Reformer pilates classes, and in one of them i was able to do pretty much the entire class alongside my clients since they’re such pros
– got in a 6k treadmill run (brutally cold temps that day)
– did a 90 minute hot yoga class on Sunday
– wrapped up the weekend with 50 pushups/50 situps x 3 so i wouldn’t feel like a sloth for mostly staying in from the cold on Sunday
Running 2 10K’s one sat, one sun
Easy 8 mile run
5M trail run, 1 hr mountain bike ride, a long hike, and some yoga
8 mile run.
pool swim, indoor cycling on the trainer, weights, eats
I can’t compare to many of the commenters as far as fitness goes, but I’m trying, and I walked on my treadmill both days last weekend, and I’m slowly increasing the length of my workout and the speed of the incline.
4 rides and 2 runs. None long, but good quality.
Heart melting MTB ride under heavy rain, that’s all!
Easy 5k at long run pace and then some strength work
Valentine’s week training log was very untraditional for me . . . backpacked with two kids and the wife through Budapest, Vienna and Munich. All 50 lbs on my back and 10+ hours walking for just over a week. Didn’t have anything left for a Ray travel run.
80K Ride on sat, 2k swim sunday…thanks!!
Updated FTP value. New power zones will make me suffer next few weeks.
I did some base cadence biking drills, with a short run before the bike and then a longer run the next day.
I’d been sick for a few weeks so last week was the first one I ran in a while, two 40 minute run, felt good to be back on the road
OWS then parkrun on Saturday. High intensity hilly bike Sunday
Will be a great priza
1 Circuit Training Work Out (with gym rings and pull bar) and 1 Soccer Work Out.
Time spend at each work out : Circuit Tr. 70 minutes and Soccer 90-100 minutes.
Have a nice Day !!!
I’m on the mend from surgery, so was limited to a couple long snowshoe hikes. Maybe more of the same for a few more weeks, and then I’ll start shopping out that trainer.
Trainer road! Melting soggy trails and ice patches are not yet gone at 7,000 ft in the US southwestern mountains. One workout of over/under intervals and one endurance workout indoors last weekend. I’m ready for spring and riding outdoors again!
PS: Congratulations on the new addition to the family!
Chris
Friday: 4×500 in the pool
Saturday: nil
Sunday: An hour on the kickr w/ trainerroad
Not much training. Recovering from a flu – only 6km run and riding my bike with 2 kids in a trailer.
Saturday: crossfit, short run
Sunday: snowboarding
82km on the bike through national parks in Sydney’s north. Was surprised to see you had some times on a few of the segments out there… Of course faster than me!
Running, more running…to pretend to my boyfriend I am trying to get ready for the half marathon and not just drinking wine
A smooth 100 laps on a ice skating rink, together with my love….
I made a nice 12 km trail run enjoying the forest and the weather a lot.
I do not like the time between wake up and starting to run early in the morning but after I feel so rewarded!:)
Last weekend was hill repeats Saturday followed by a smooth, flat 40mi Sunday.
Rested most of the weekend for a soccer game on Sunday. This weekend I am planning to do a 10km run.
Planned 26k on Sunday training for Paris in April, had to do just 18 on Saturday due to stormy weather forecsted for Sunday… And they were right!
Indoor rowing and a 3 mile run
I did not get out on the weekend unfortunately. Had a whole lot of gardening that needed attention. Didn’t even make my step goals on my garmin.
Well I’m embarrassed to say what my work outs have come to these days… I’m in the Navy in Japan right now and have been doing a lot of walking. Over this past weekend I’ve traversed 9 miles cruising through Yokosuka! One of these days I’ll put my Fenix 3 back to work again.
Couple quick laps on my road bike sound Stanley Park.
20 km easy run (5:30/km)
100 miles on the bike last week
A quick 10 miles on Zwift
37 mile night ride. Fast paced with my local club
53 mile Sunday cafe ride with my local club
I was unfortunately sick. I caught a cold. So unfortunately the only activity was something like a recovery run in order to stimulate my body.
As always, 45min spin class since the girlfriend is an instructor.
Trainer Road ride (Holt Hill) with a 20 minute T-run Saturday.
Then 9 miles on Sunday.
The combination of being sick and having a tournament next week meant I only did my daily 40 push up and 12 pull ups.
Managed to fit in 20 miles over the weekend. Currently in maintenance phase, no races coming up as of now.
I only managed a quick run on the treadmill. I did 4 min intervals at threshold speed (17.2 kph) with just a minute of rest in between. Managed 4 of them…
I completed a 70km bike ride followed by an easy 5k run.
Sunday 90 minute TrainerRoad and complete base period
Started my race season this weekend with a winter Triathlon event. Got very close to Top-10 :)
Partners in Pain 5k with the lovely wife
Recovering after many weeks of continuous infections, last weekend I started working on getting the form back. Started with an easy10K on Saturday and another 18K on the following day.
Battling Plantar Fasciitus, So only rode on the stationary bike for a bit!
Cheers.
Ken
Fat bike ride saturday and long 11.5 mile run sunday.
Trail-Running with my daughter and her boyfriend 30kilometers and we kept going though it was raining and snowing (2°C) and hardly anybody was seen outside. What a lucky man I am!
Two runs on fresh deep snow. Quite difficult but very nice.
mmm for the last weekend. a 30 min run to get back in shape after a flu and then long walks with my dog :)
Trailrunning with my father, 30k in snow and rain
and like everytime there’s a short video ouf our adventure:
link to youtu.be
Spent the weekend in Fredrickburg, so sadly? happily? This was a wine drinking weekend instead of an exercise one. :)
I did the Buller half marathon on the west coast of NZ it’s a great run.
Started the day by cleaning snow from the soccerfield … To allow the kids to start their game. And then went for a 8,5 km run. Both were good fun!
Workout training for legs.
Plan was for long and steady 100km, however due to change of plans it became not so long and not so steady 50 km …
a 95k bicycle trip, 10 krunning and my swimming classes
i was injured, so no training :-(
I did a bike ride (MTB) on Saturday of about 2 hours. On Sunday I had an easy run of 1h. I had a cold and therefore I did train less hard.
Bike 30 miles!
Swim training with the kids. Teaching my son and daughter how to dive for their school swimming carnival…remembered why i never wanted to be a teacher. Must have worked they did awesome.
Had a great time with my daughter. We went walking in the local neighborhood. First time not on a bike in a while!
145km ride on Saturday and 1500m swim and 30min trainer session on Sunday
Did a Short Run / fast with Desert Road Runners in Dubai: 3 times 500m at 1/2 marathon pace, 500 jog recovery, 400m at 10k pace, 400m recovery, 300m at 5km pace, 300 recovery, 200m -15s, 200m recovery, 100m all out sprint, 100m recovery, 3minutes cool down recovery, and then again, and again!
Went mental on the sprints, pulled something in my elbow (??!!), and still feeling the effects of going way faster than my marathon training plan…
Hiking and trail running 13km in 4hr, 930m elevation gain, some technical ascent and descent section. Trying to break into 3hr timing in 2 months.
Rehab running after leg injury. Not so fun but must be done so I can do my autumn goal 42k High coast trail run.
No training last weekend, just rest before a half-marathon :D
A weekend with PR attacks on the local MTB course, and it went well with around 10% better times on the targeted PRs :-)
Hours worth of hill reps on the bike saturday following by towing “the boy” around in a Croozer (they are great for babies!) and a hard workout!
However, I booked a surprise Spa day for my girlfriend & I and we spent the whole day in various Saunas and casual Swims. Both of us sacrificed our workouts for the day.
Saturday: XC Race 10km
Sunday: 30 min swim, 50 min bike, 40 min run.
Saterdaymorning I went biking to the east, because the wind blowing from that direction.
The ride was a bid cold and almost 60 km long.
Saturday: 1 hour interval session on the stationery trainer;
Sunday: 100km+ road cycle with a few hills that ends at a cafe for Valentine’s Day brunch with family.
Saturday: 1h swimming and 10k running
Sunday: 2:15h bike on trainer
Thats about it :-)
I went skiing in the mountains in Poiana Brasov (Romania) with my sisters on Saturday :) Then on Sunday morning after a 14 km jogging I played some tennis for about an hour.
Saturday:resting after a week of overindulgence of food and drink during Chinese New Year.
Sunday: a 4 hour mountainside hike, not training as such, but I sure could feel it during the Monday’s run!
Last weekend featured a swim on an early saturdaymorning. The sunday had a long run (20km), with the girlfriend joining me on the mountainbike. The crappy weather in the Netherlands made for a very, very cold girlfriend ;-)
just an easy 12km run – with the knee being injured in the 8th km, seeing the doc soon … hopefully nothing serious and rest will do it :-) …
no training, race day Saturday. 16 lap criterium
just walks with the dogs because of knee issues.
10km with the wife on Saturday. Intervals alone on Sunday. 30×30 should just about do it for me!
Thanks
It was a combo of 9k fast followed by 13,5k normal pace.
I am Busy with Comrades Marathon Training in Sunny South Africa. Saturday I did the Bronkhorstspruit 32km race. Time: 2h:54m Really felt good but was very warm! Sunday I did 8km recovery run around the neighborhood. The legs were lekker stiff! Loving It!