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.
Swimming in Exuma
I nursed my broken hand from last week’s spill during interval training. Wahhhh!!!!
I went for a long run and it was already quite hot outside.
Btw, where does that dislike for SPAM come from? I had really good SPAM musubi when I was in Hawaii….
I was running 10 miles on flat course.
I “ran” to the grocery store for party staples :D
I was laying flor in my pain loft and mounting 10+ lamps at my home. Plus small 100km+ bike ride.
Very first half marathon coming up on Sunday, getting excited and wouldn’t say no to complete my gear for the big one in autumn :-)
Ran my first 5k after a bad knee injury. The weather was great and the temperature was perfect to run through the woods. And with spring coming it was even better to be in the nature.
My first ever trail, loved it!
I am in the middle of a 10 k training plan. So the “athletic part of weekend” consisted of a 30 minute tempo run and an 80 minute endurance run – all in all around 23 km. During those sessions, I tested a “Stryd” foot pod :)
I did a very hilly bike ride in the Okanagan, followed by some wine tasting!
11.5 miles biking with the kid in a trailer for a cherry blossom picnic on Friday, and a 5 mile (bike) sprint Saturday morning to borrow my friend’s pickup truck.
Ran 10k in the desert…too hot
Run 5k on saturday then racing err I mean riding with my fellow chain gang on sunday
I was visting my inlaws on the saturday & my family on the sunday for my sons 3rd bday. 6.5hrs of driving in 36hrs is never fun but managed to get time to do some exercise. Saturday night was a 5k with my wife & then I did a 10k to my old Uni & back to my inlaws. sunday was a walk around Attingham Hall/Park (lovely stately home). All tracked using a Garmin 935 :)
3 mile run on Saturday then rain on Sunday forced a recovery day.
Started running again after a prolonged period of inactivity and weight gain ?. Easy times are over. Back to the grind!
Sadly not much athleticism last weekend (unless you count food consumption).
Interval and long run to prepare for the Antwerp 10miles.
Ran a wet and cold Boston Marathon last weekend. In recovery mode now.
I did a little 2h ride only because if a cold. Took the other day tout heal.
I did my first TT Saturday and Sunday Reconed an upcoming race and climbed 3k feet,
The biggest workout was doing a brakejob on the wife’s car but still managed to get in a couple medium rides.
Volleyball match Sunday evening
Did a 20k trail hike with my friends
Walking 2 miles
riding the bike for aprox. 10 miles
Walked all day long in a park with my dog
I went hiking with my wife and kids
Went for a swim before first tri of the year this weekend.
Did easy runs with carbo loading in preparation for the Boston Marathon
First outdoor run of the season!
Amstel Gold Race of course!
Since we had a nice weekend weather here in Toronto with a bit of freezing rain and a bunch of snow, I had to go to the total body workout known as shoveling!!
Also I hit the gym for a bit of rock climbing.
Did 5km run after a 12 hour active (sleep, meal, movie x 2) rest on a transpacific flight…
Masters Swim w/ paddles and buoys.
Gravel ride through the way of santiago! It’s great!
My athletic adventur of the week was… going out for a mtb ride with a large group of friends… and waiting for them at every uphill :) Not so fit as they thought, but it was much fun!
I did some intense hill climbing and dangerous descents on dodgy surfaces after winter. Fun…
This weekend, it was 70km trail day break, after 2 months just running.
Ride through the hills
I did a TR 20min FTP test. Finished all tired. Still having some pains today lol. Thanks
FTP training on Zwift and the Neo
Taught a Water Aerobics class on Saturday, 60 mile bike ride on Sunday. Nice nap on Sunday afternoon. :o)
10 mile run, slow and steady.
Trainer ride and a nice walk after volunteering at a a bike swap
This weekend, my girlfriend and I ran a 32 mile trail training run gearing up for the Finger Lake 50 Mile race in June! Nice, easy pace, holding long for a long time! This giveaway would help us both so much as we are both grad students with little disposable money to spend on our passion of running!
I started the weekend off with some early morning hot yoga
A nice run around the local lake whilst contemplating on buying a kayak.
i tried to walk my cat. she obviously wasn’t keen on being walked.
45 minute Peloton ride and 5 miles on the rowing machine.
I spent most of the weekend chasing my daughters, but I did complete my planned TrainingPeaks brick workout, in preparation for my FIRST 70.3.
Swapped my 11-36 for a 11-28… Am I being too optimistic?
It wasn’t quite this weekend, as it happened on Friday, but I dug a river on a beach with my 6 year old son, rerouting cliff runoff to create the river with canyons and islands. Digging sand is quite some workout, particularly at the command of a demanding kid!
I did a 20 mile run on Sunday… my last long run before the Providence Marathon.
Hey, I did a run every day last weekend. Exploring the nature around my place, enjoying the weather, and finishing a 50k running week :)
after the HIIT session i enjoy my protein shake
Did a long run in miserable weather
Recovering from a skiing accident, :(
I’m on the final part of my training for the Pamplona Half triathlon happening next May 12th. Just swimming a little bit, (mostly) Zwifting a little bit, and running a little bit. Lately training lots of Bike-run transitions!
Zwift long ride :)
Heli Skiing in the Pemberton Glacier followed by heavy beer curls.
My peak training week leading up to my spring marathon wound up being 4 miles on Saturday and 10 miles on Sunday. That doesn’t sound good.
Nice and easy tempo ride.
Managed to get a run in Friday night, before the weather went downhill for the rest of the weekend. I did watch some cycling on tv while stuck indoors, so maybe that partially counts.
Took my dog to the beach and played fetch in the ocean until she tired me out (she doesn’t ever tire).
Long run and rode the mountain bike.
This weekend is for resting for half marathon next weekend :)
Went out on my first group ride. Helped me realize that it was time well spent doing trainerroad all winter.
Going for a 500km Trip next Weekend. Some stuff to Play afterwards would be cool :-)
I rode in shorts for the first time this year, even though it was just under the warm-enough line. This never-ending winter sucks!
i did yoga this weekend
Saturday longish, easy training run while sharing the roads with the marathon racers. Sunday…treadmill doldrums as the weather is still mostly miserable for early morning outdoor runs around here.
Enjoyed a beautiful ride on Saturday in 70 degree weather on Saturday, and rode Zwift Sunday since it was snowing…..welcome to Kansas.
unboxing and putting together patio furniture, while silently crying about the snow storm outside
Came back from vacation on Saturday. Jet-lagged, went to a bike fair, “just to have a look and stay awake to be able to sleep at night”. Came home with a brand new BMC Teammachine…I got a 15% discount tho!
Hiking the trails at my local reserve.
Boston Marathon
Recovery weekend that had some yoga and some walking…nothing too serious! Thanks Ray!!
I walked around Chicago during my friends bachelor party.
Fun 11 miler around some lakes in training for a race in June!
Bloodied nipple long run in the rain, ouch!
I went out to my local trail early trying to beat the forecasted rain. It was my last big workout before a mountain bike race the following weekend. My FTP has risen through some focused training so it was time to test it out. I’m also about 6 weeks out from a separated shoulder and ready to really get after it again. I got 6 new Strava top 10’s on segments that I was riding. I pulled away from the parking lot and the rain started about 5 minutes later. All in all a great day of riding and I’m looking forward to putting my best efforts towards next week’s race.
1 hour run on the treadmill.
Dear DC Rainmaker.
According to my Samsung S3 watch I did 42 floors during the weekend. Teh 42 was done while being on board my ship where I work.
Did abrick workout with alonger run. Then a good recovery day reading DCR! :)
I spent the weekend on Zwift because it snowed all weekend (again) in Michigan.
A short run… to the grocery store. For ice cream… ;)
Cadence training…it was terrible
Knew I’d have a surgery coming up (performed just yesterday), so I zwifted the 3 sisters for Tour of Watopia!
Training for Mt Mitchell so did a 60 mile bike with 5k of climbing.
I actually built a pergola from scratch, i.e. not a kit, sinking and cementing in posts, laying pavers etc., it wasn’t training per se but it was a lot pf physical work and i was sore all over on Monday morning!
sick as a dog do quick ride on zwift
It’s been 4 weeks since my knee surgery, so my extreme sports adventure was a 1,5km walk to the grocery store and back!
Tailwind ride of 55 miles in north winds 20-30 with higher gusts… the return trip was tough!
1/2 Marathon warmup to get ready for race season, set a PR so can’t complain!
I ran around a snowy neighborhood. Burrrr… Spring has not yet sprung.
I sat on my bike connected to an old Lemond trainer for 2:30 hours on Sunday. The best of times.
I accidentally went to brunch on Saturday too close to a long(ish) run. 12 hilly miles during the first 80 degree day of the year on heavy french toast makes for a very sluggish run.
I did PT for a bum knee