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.
Working through a niggle so less running than I would have liked. On Saturday ran 6 miles easy and on Sunday 2h30 mins on the indoor trainer watching track and field videos. Spring is close :)
Metcon- 40:00 AMRAP 25 Kettlebell Swings, 20 Sit-ups, 15 Burpees
Strength- Snatch Balance Work, Tempo Back Squats
Just a short long run of 16K. Starting my plan for my next half!
Training for my first 70.3. Swam Mon, Wed, Friday. HIT spinning Wednesday. Run Tuesday. Tomorrow 40km bike, 5k run brick session. Paint bathroom, play with my 3 kids. Training done, relax!
I’ve been testing my new Vortex Smart for 7 days in a row now :)
Hi Ray, last weekend in Saturday I clocked a 10k run (sadly without recording it because I forgot to charge the TomTom hr) and on Sunday it was time for some kms of rowing in the wet and cold.
CrossFit Mon-Fri, 5K run Tue, 10K run Thurs, 1hr spin on trainer Saturday, rest sunday.
Nothing!! Still in the off-season.
My usual 30k in wind and rain.
Sunday: 2 hour sufferfest threshold endurance session
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 1.5 hour threshold session
Wednesday: 2 hour zone 2 spin
Thurs: 1 hour ftp build session
Fri: 30min abs class, 30min zone 2 spin
Saturday: 1 hour sufferfest threshold endurance.
3 mile run on Monday. Insanity Max 30 on Tuesday. Quick travel for work. 4 miles this morning.
Nothing.. I caught a cold the week before so cancelled all plans
I did my first Tabata interval. Quite tough but somehow fun. Also lent a roller so I’ll try that out this weekend, as it’s rain in The Netherlands.
i did a tempo run on tuesday, an easy run on thursday and a long run on sunday. i need to prep for an upcoming half marathon!
Normally I would run 10 to 12 Km on Sunday. This weekend I won’t even go outside. I have the flu with 40 C fever.
33 mi ride and 5 mile power walk
1.5 hour run on Saturday.
2.0 hour cycle ride on Sunday.
I had two runs this past weekend including an 8 mile and 5 mile!
Tried to combine Sufferfest vídeos while using Zwift….not the simplest arrangement but good enough to kick my ass…
Because i ran a 70.3 in january and i am very lazzy now.
Swim 1 hour three times a week.
And 100 km of bike on saturdays
Just a shortish trail run due to illness!
Saturday I cycled 30 kilometers in Richmond (Zwift). I did Jon’s mix workout. Sunday I played floorball. (Salibandy or Sähly in Finnish). It’s a popular sport in Finland.
A part of my trainer broke so had to go old school and do some push ups, handstand push ups, and squats.
A 90 min sweetspot trainer ride. Good stuff.
Last weekend I rode on my trainer for 2.5 hours at Z2 power with 2×20 comfortably hard towards the end and watched, “The Blacklist”. I then had a 15min run on a treadmill. Sunday I ran for an hour along the hudson river and then swam (in a pool not the river) for about 45 mins mixing in some 50s, 100s and 200s at hard, threshold and tempo paces.
I did a 5km parkrun in Brentwood, England Sat & a gym weights session on legs and shoulders on Sunday.
Mountain biking!
Strict bed rest to get over a cold quickly, recovery as important as training!
Saturday: 1h30′ Home Trainer Session / IF=0.81 TSS=97 (Antelope on Trainerroad)
+ baby swimmer cool down :)
Sunday: 14k run loops around Longchamp, including 3x3k half-marathon pace
Coming back from a layoff so just an easy 10miles.
I am having blast over last weekends. For that I need some good weather (some warm sun and good – snow conditions up in the hills.) and couple hours of free time, extra is if there is some good company…
Starting on Friday evening playing basketball with group of friends. Coming from Slovenia, it is easy to have a nice bike ride at the coast and do some ski-touring same or next day… So on Saturday I went for c/a 2hrs. easy bike ride on recumbent bike (It is always fun ride.) With nice sun up on Sunday morning, I went to near by ski resort with my parents… I went for ski touring around near by hills and they for hike. “Crème de la crème” was the fact my parents saw me skiing down after 25 years. It was just an awesome feeling… Only wish I have: to repeat weekends like that as many times as possible. Its is maybe not straight training, but for sure is feels great doing it and after it. At the end “nature is my church where I heal my hurts.”…
* I do not do training “per se”, I just like to spend hours outside as much as possible, which is also “training” for my next project at the end of the year….
It wasn’t raining much on Saturday so I managed to go for a run for about 90min and on Sunday I went for a nice easy walk along the canal with the family :)
Saturday: terrible cold windy run. Sunday: terrible FTP test on Zwift. Holiday Monday: happy run in the middle of a snow storm with the yak trax!
I had anti-Malaria and Yellow Fever jabs last week so just took it… easy.
Double Bridge 15K in PCOLA!! Awesome Race.
A turbo session on the Saturday and an open water swim on the Sunday – 7C water!
17 k on treadmill and some stabilisation workout
Hi Ray, polarized 4 hours ride with 20% in Z4 on Saturday and a FREE session with friends on sunday, enjoying the rising temperature here in north of Italy. Enjoy your week end!
Destin 50k beach ultra -http://www.unconventionalfitness.net/2016/02/destin-beach-ultra-runs-50k-race-report.html?m=1
40min high intensity trainer ride. It should have been 60km from Greenpoint to Chapmans peak in Cape Town, but it was bucketing down with rain.
On Valentine’s Day I did an 18 mile run while the misses was in bed asleep still – link to strava.com
I’m doing the Brighton marathon on April 17th which is my first ever marathon hoping for a 3:15 or slightly quicker. I’ve done half marathons and Standard Triathlon distances but never a marathon. I’m thinking this will be a good way to make myself take the plung into an ironman!
Training is going well averaging 35+ miles a week and running 5 days a week. So could reeeeeeeelly do with another pair of trainers, a knew watch, loooooads more energy gels running clothes, it’s not very nice putting the same compression top back on the next day after a 9 mile track session lol… the smell ?. Wouldn’t mind a turbo trainer for when I fully commit to the ironman training. The list could go on and on.
Thanks for your time dcrainmaker
2k
Swim/bike brick, zwift group ride, trail run….mellow week.
Last weekend was pretty simple but it works for me. Did strength conditioning for an hour Saturday with my wife. Sunday I swam a very slow and clumsy 1000 meters but it was tiring.
David
No training at all for a change.
I did Week 7 Day 1 and 2 of Zwift’s 10-12wk FTP Builder program. And hope it actually increases my FTP :)
I did s 3.5 hour bike ride on the trainer Saturday, on Sunday I swam 2000 yards and then ran 15.5 miles on the treadmill.
Did spin classes both days last weekend and did a short run both Saturday and Sunday as well!
Ready for the marathon of February 28th
Last weekend was a 40min session of Maraton Pace alternating with Threshold. Followed by a 25k long run the next day.
10k run on snow with fatbike. It was a fun ride.
Struggling to shake a persistent chest infection, so just a relaxed 65km ride. Keeping the heart rate low.
Workout at gym on Wednesday for lower body then Friday for upper bodies. Ride 36km on Saturday.
Just a 15k training run nothing fancy at all since I had other plans in the weekend :)
Easy ride
I did 60km of cross-country skiing last weekend. Lots of fun.
Limited to spin class and swimming at the moment. I go under the knife tomorrow to try and get my knee sorted. Hopefully I can be back running in a month or so.
I had a 14 km run, like always.
Pity that I still do not have a smart watch. But soon, very soon… :)
Race practice on Zwift and an hour at threshold
15 mile run with target average hr of 145 as focused on building base fitness. Suffered much than expected over the last 3 miles.
2 x 4 hours hilly rides!
5 mile run, a hike, and a few miles of biking. I was sick :(
I had my first out door bike ride of the winter. It was good not to be on the trainer.
I set out to do a RUSA 100k +15k and ended up in the ER with Pericarditis! Spent the weekend in the hospital and didn’t get to ride at all. :-(
Had a 5km ski race. The best time ever – 14.16!
40k windy cycle involving poor drivers and a puncture!
1 our run, 1 hour bike
Had it been an ordinary weekend I’d have the usual stuff to write about, but this was a special weekend. I spent the weekend NOT training as we had a family weekend away. I did walk miles and miles around the holiday park we were staying in and I helped my 3 year old to swim in the “big” pool instead of the baby pool (does that count?). I also sat and watched lots of kids themed shows, including Angelina Ballerina and Thomas the Tank. It was a great weekend. You’ve got all this to come!!!!!
Run along the Neckar river!
Short 5k, and then a 6 mile hike with the girlfriend.
Did a 5K on Saturday and a recovery ride on Sunday.
Cross country skiing in Northen Sweden, 2x20km Saturday and another 2x20km on Sunday.
Mostly work last week, but I did manage to get a short swim in on Tuesday and then a “Dreadmill” workout at the Hotel on Friday Morning. Official training season starts in another week.
Did two stages of London-Edinburgh-London on the trainer. Recon & training for the real thing in ’17!
Saturday morning ride on the trainer for 1 hour then a 3 mile run with my son in the afternoon.
10k trail run with friends in Napa Valley– followed by some lunch an wine tasting.
6 miles easy
4 miles @ 6:53 (MP)
2 miles @ 6:30
2 miles easy
Getting ready for a BQ attempt in the Spring.
It was 30k xc ski race and i did it in 1:44 which is my PB for now!
Best wishes from Moscow and thanks for fantastic work you do here!
Trainging last weekend included 2hrs of spinning, 30 minutes of running and 10km of cross country skiing.
– 4 days to work and back on the bike at 6.5 miles a day.
– Easy spin for an hour on the road bike
– Fatbike 10 miles at 9500′
– Ski day ~6 hours
7k run home from work. without my garmin FR, which I have got used to. Weird feeling
Saturday 6,15 km run /duration 50,20 tracked on sports-tracker with iphone 5s and HR polar H7.
Did some running, some wall balls, Turkish get ups, and lunges. Then repeated 3 more times.
I went on a snowboarding trip with my friends, so mostly did some recovery beer drinking training while doing some height training. :)
Fought the rush-traffic during three commutes to work on my bike (a measly 7.5km each way) then ripped up one of Christchurch, New Zealand’s local mountain bike trails called McLeans Island (funnily enough, it’s not an island: apparently it used to have water nearby) for an hour, almost clipping a tree with my right pedal during an over enthusiastic cornering manoeuver!
Racing track league
In south Louisiana spring has sprung, so my training plan was put on hold last weekend in order to do some cross training. I spent 2 1/2 hours raking leaves and doing general yard work.
Last weekend I was away at a wedding so I did 2 1hr cross-country runs (Sat-Sun) in the beautiful Martinborough of New Zealand. I used my tomtom spark cardio + music too although I have never used the music function!
Today a mtb ride. On Monday I planned a conconnietest.
Kettlebell training, 2 hours 30 mins of swim and then valentine’s walk and evening running with my GF. :) It was really nice weekend!
Rest, have a fractured sesamoid and it hurts…..
35km bike followed by 9km run
Short rode on the tax on monday
A run folowed by a swimsession on thuesday
Rest of the week Off die tot a serieus cold
On sunday an oriëntering race
Easy recovery day after a long week. Rode a 25mi recovery dawn ride at 75% FTP, recovery drink, Tom Danielson core workout then 30 minutes with compression boots, then jumped back in bed.
Last weekend I took out the Tacx and did a Virtual rode in South Africa’s Kogelbay for a easy 1 hour and 10 minutes. And the next day a nice one hour swim with the tri-club.
Dynamic warmup.
5 exercizes in the gym. Living in Scandinavia this time of year force you indoor.
45 mins of run at Barangaroo, Sydney. A beautiful place by by Sydney Harbour.
Rode my bike for the first time in a couple of months.
I did absolutely nothing! It was -7 outside.
As weekend is for family ( all the hard work done during week) purposess,I did “only” 30k run early morning on Saturday and then 20′ stretching/easy general fitness workout,as everyday.
Looking after the kids.