Sports Tech Summer Deals Still Live! A huge number of the Amazon deals are still going! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $459, and the Fenix 8 for $150 off. The Apple Watch Series 10 for $279, the GoPro Hero 13 Black for $329, smart trainers, drones, action cams, and plenty more! Go check out the full list here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
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Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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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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FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
- Do you have a privacy policy posted?
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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.
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!
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.
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!
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 2024 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.
On Saturday I will go on a 15k run and on Sunday there is a longish group ride. No BBQ unfortunately.
Just a 10K run to make my muscles remember that they could come off worse.
90 mins easy ?Fulgaz/?Veloreality session Saturday followed by a big Zwift session Sunday. The weather has turned in OZ this weekend and it is wet and miserable……
I will start again with my fitness/sport routine, after too many months of stagnation
This weekend I would like to find the time to run a 10k, go on a half-day mountain bike ride and train for about an hour on Zwift. We’ll see what I get done!
40km bicycle ride on a new route with my wife
I’ll do some distance with my 45 kg cargobike to prepare for this summer’s family bicycle tour(s)
Weekend started here in Perth, Australia, forecast was for thunderstorms and rain this morning, so went for a ride at midday, awesome. Two rides tomorrow, one outdoors, and then an interval session on Zwift
I hope to extend the milage on my bike.
seeing if I can do 100+ KM on my bike on Sunday :)
Showing my bike 50km of the area around home
It’s finally a good whether here in Moscow, so I’ll be out running the whole day!
10k once we’ve had some breakfast, BBQ tomorrow and then a hilly cycle on bank hol Monday!
I recently ran my first marathon. Right now I try to keep my running form by having short runs every other day, while figuring out what to run next. Keep on running includes Memorial Day weekend as well as any other weekend of the year… ;-)
I plan for sunday a 18km trail run,
Long ride home on Friday arvo, then a run over the new City2Surf course for familiarisation…
Thanks for the contest!
yesterday was bike day, today I’m planing on running 1,5h and tomorrow has relaxing on the program :-)
Run 3 miles on Saturday
Go hiking on mission peak on Sunday
Interval training on Monday
I’m going to spend the weekend recovering from a respiratory infection. Should I start to feel better I might lift some weights because it won’t make new cough up a lung
Time to get to the marina for a cold open water swim!
Probably just a small jog under the rain…
Sunday morning a short trailrun of 15km
Baby on board = no training!
1st Triathlon in the New Forest. Very excited but nervous!
Will run a 15-18km trail today.
Will be a hot weekend (over 30°C) and the garden grabs also energy, so slower 10 miles on saturday and sunday are the maximum I will do…
10k’s throughout the day in training for tr24.
One Saturday
2 on Sunday over the moors
2 on Monday on hills and moors
Next weekend I’m NOT going to Ischia (as my parents), nor going to Rome (as my girlfriend), neither going to race (as my training mates). I’m going to work and run in the city. In the HOT and WET miserable city.
Hope you have a great day Ray, thanks for posting awesomeness every time
5k run , recover and a pig out BBQ
Swimming(done), stretching(should do), weight training(will do)
Friday: roadbike
Saturday: chill ride with the biketrailer
Sunday: hill intervals
I am getting back into running after recovering from surgery, so I will be happy with a 6M run around the town.
Going for 35 min treadmill runn today, and long run tomorrow :)
About 40 km on the bike
Won’t be doing much. Attending a wedding
Few hours of base miles on the bike.
Some quality time on the bike – hill intervals or a nice pass
90 minute spin session on Saturday AM, then a 3hr run on Saturday PM. Then a rest day on Sunday :)
Recovering from a quick after work half-marathon this week so a steady run out with my youngest son (10), general father-related taxi duties followed by a BBQ.
Walking tour or Taormina Sicily including the all the wines!
Then back to reality and the grind of NYC
I guess couch and watching Giro do not make a training?
In the spirit of the Giro, will try to climb the same number of categorized climbs as stage 20 on Saturday…
Yesterday was deadlifting (new pr!) and squats, today it’s gonna be a short&light recovery-ish run and tomorrow it’s gym time again :)
Sadly, I have to overcome my illness. I hoped it will be over by now, but it seems to like me more than a friend :(
10 km run on saturday.
45 km on my mountain-bike up to the Hills on Sunday ?
I mostly hike and backpack, but recently, on a whim, I took part in a 50k race with zero training other than weekend hikes. I figured I’d just hike for 12 hours and be able to complete it just before the cutoff time. Result? I did finish in the expected time, but my knees were shattered and I could hardly hike for 3 months, and I still have problems on long days.
That was an eye-opener, so now I’ve just started running (gently) to increase my fitness and strengthen my leg muscles – as per my physio recommendation. So the plan for this weekend is for a short run around the neighboring hills. That would make it only my 4th run ever – not counting being late and running to work in the morning ;)
Hilly trail run on Sunday
A recce of The Rosedale trail half marathon and a couple of thousand feet of climbing.
Sat: 7km steady run in the sun (in France!)
Sun: Rest and travel
Mon: 1.5h long run (in Newcastle, UK)
I had 1h easy run yesterday and tomorrow it is going to be intervals.
Cheers.
Might see you at the Paris Triathlon… hoping for some sun !
Saturday well earned rest day!! Sunday long run 15 miles, Mon long bike ride (weather permitting)
Maybe I’ll get out on the bike Sunday afternoon if the weather’s good enough. I’ll definitely rooting for Chavez to hold on to his lead tonight. Go OGE! And go Dan in Monaco!
Eating waffles in Belgium
Some light running struggiling whith my spring allergy before the Champions League final.
As I’m working and traveling a lot this weekend I fear it will most probably be hotel gyms and sleep workouts.
Saturday attaching new doggy trailer to single speed and exploring with 16 week old cockapoo puppy, nothing like a bit of resistance training!
Sunday more of the same and trying to get him to sit on a stand up paddle board ☺️
It’s a long weekend in the UK too, so I’ll be doing a couple of 10km runs and then relaxing in the UK sunshine with a cold beer!
Being a hard-core runner and recreative cyclist, I always neglected a bit the swimming part…
But, yesterday I finally registred for my first triathlon! Time to take my swimming to the next level.
Saturday I’ll be joining my first swimming class to optimize my crawl technique!
I’ll start Sunday with an easy pace long run after which I’m going to the pool again to practice my learned skills :-)
Wow already 4000 replies. Fat chance I’ll win but here goes. Trip to south orange with my wife and folks, the dogs just woke me up at 5am to run up the hill to the park system to explore the trails.
Two swim sessions if the weather is fine and a birthday party :)
A fast 5km run on Sat morning followed by a nice slow 15km run on Sunday morning
Doing a long SST workout and core in the afternoon today.
nothing planned yet; a light run maybe. :)
by the way, thank you ray!
Saturday
2:30 hour ride as:
45min easy w/u include 6x30sec SPRINTS with 90sec easy after 20mins to open legs up
3x15min moderate at 70-80rpm with 15min easy in between
15min TT in biggest gear
ROTB
40 mins as:
30 secs hard 30 secs recover for 30 mins
10 mins cd
Sunday
1:30 progressive run as:
30 mins Easy
30 mins Moderate
20 mins Mod-Hard
10 mins Easy
– Choose undulating course
Possibly a mock olympic for saturday?? Then go on vacation!
Easy run today about 2-3km, tomorrow 10k race in Madrid!
After my swim this morning tomorrow Delft-Antwerps by bike…
Sat: 15K Run
Sun: Bike or Spin class
today ill have my longrun ~18 km
I won’t be doing much in the way of training, it’s show time – running a half marathon on Sunday.
Saturday duathlon race, Sunday 1 hour social bike/1 hr swim and Monday the annual Memorial Day plunge as Wisconsin outdoor swimming officially begins!
This weekend marks the first “real” ride for me, 13 miles around Ipswich
I plan to bike 20-30mi/day on my 1988 Schwinn tempo, swim in the local pool, and dream a little about my return to running (been out with injury since the Boston Marathon!). Of course, that all happens before the kids wake up:-)
Open water swim in Dorset followed by recuperation of a strained medial ligament :(
Run 15k on Saturday!
Easy recovery ride on Sunday after a heavy and beautiful week in toscany.
Sun is back in Norway so road bike in the west of Oslo for Saturday and a run around the fjord on Sunday … no BBQ on the small balcony for me :)
Bike ride on Sunday, or a run inbetween the showers (thunder storms predicted)
I will be eating saltines and ginger al in lieu of doing anything productive because my 11 mo old gremlins got me sick again. Also enjoying some work free time with the cute little imps.
2.5 hour bike ride on Saturday, 1:15 run on Sunday and, depending on river conditions, my first open water swim of the season on Monday.
Did a 30k bike ride on friday. Planning another ride on either saturday or sunday depending on the weather. Finally the temperature has gone up here, but now the rain is coming.
Recovery run and strength work at the gym!
10k run after a good long sleep.
Long and slow bike ride for 5 hours.
I will be hiking cape to cape , a 135 kms long beautiful trail in West Australia along side the Indian ocean.
Saturday – hill endurance session
Sunday – recovery
Half marathon on Saturday!
Saturday: long endurance run
Sunday: Reffing footy
Truing on the Kickr and then swimming in the pool.
Leg workout at the gym followed by an easy swim at my favourite pool on Sunday.
For me…it’s triathlon training. A brick today on a hot and steamy day, followed by a ride and long run tomorrow.
10k on sundayy with a friend
Generally crappy weather here this weekend so I think the old KICKR will get some use and abuse
Running a 5k this Saturday to raise breast cancer awareness here in the BVI but also to support a friend that had an accident and is lucky to be alive. He was a big supporter of this run/walk dressing up every year and now is at a hospital bed in Panama.
On Sunday I will run something between 4-6miles just to keep going. Season’s main goal (after Dopey this January) is now NY Marathon!
I think I will do and easy long run today and race a half tomorrow.
Run 1hr on Sat. and Swim 3000m on Sun.
No training, am working :'(
barbecue saturday and 10 km run on sunday
Long weekend in the UK and the weather looks good too so run Sunday followed by a BBQ and a long bike ride Monday
Some 50km bike workout with 400m ascent on Saturday.
Race on Sunday, A short 30km individual bike time trial.