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Hello September!!

Well, I have to start this edition off with a little apology! Last week was officially the first week that I have missed publishing the newsletter in 15 weeks! It was a crazy week with sick kids and family visiting, and…and…and. You get the point, I was in full Momma-Bear role, and that’s just life. But don’t you worry, I’m back to make this “sweet sixteen edition” a doozy! So go fill up your cup with whatever you fancy and settle in.

For all you newbies to the Newsletter, welcome aboard, but you might want to go back to last week’s newsletter to catch up on the cliff hanger I left everyone on in the In-Depth Thoughts section. You can find all of the Newsletter archives here!

Onwards!

The week before last is super easy to sum up. Ray posted a shocking single post, which was simply his 5 Random Things review and explanation of why the site was quiet all week! Basically he too was sick, a bit jetlagged, and buried under a wild amount of new drone, wearable, and gimble technology!

Now that you are all caught up, and we can go on with what was all the news last week!

First up was the Fitbit Charge 3 Hands-on. On a first impression basis with all the new features and upgrades, the Charge 3 seems like a pretty good option for many. Ray makes the comment that it’s a device that is doing more than just counting steps. While still lacking GPS, it did (finally) get waterproofed! So there are some give and takes, but like all of the other units out there, there is something for everyone. See for yourself all the details in the Hands On post or on the 17 Things to Know YouTube video.

Next up was the semi comparable VivoSmart 4. I say comparable because in my eyes, it’s the same size, same price range, and categorized as a fitness “wearable”. So as a person who doesn’t dig as deep as Ray into these things, these things all kinda mesh together. I did notice Ray took a solid jab at them for not having everything “just right” yet with some of the new features offered, but you’ll have to see for yourself. You can check out the written post here, or the YouTube video here.

Adding to his busy week of posting was the newest upgrades made to the Favero Assioma Pedals. As Ray mentioned in the post, these are the current pedals installed on my new road bike “Ike”. Solid upgrades were made including Zwift capability, and other less glamorous headlines. If you have these pedals yourself be sure to check out the post so you know what’s up.

Finally rounding off the week of posting is the famed Week in Review. This weekly post is starting to grow on me. I’ll give Ray credit that he does find some interesting things amongst the rabbit hole we call the internet. Most notably this week was the article about how the Dutch managed to build and preserve the biking culture that we enjoy so much about our new city! I enjoyed the article so much, that I might even give Ray the go ahead to purchase the book behind the article, “Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality”.

As always, if you just don’t have the time to go read all of those posts, you can press the easy button and head over to the DC Rainmaker YouTube Channel. Depending on what’s happening around here in the Maker fam, videos don’t always get clearly tagged in posts or announced on the site. So you’re best bet is to go find that subscribe button so you don’t miss a thing!  

That’s a wrap on the gadgetry talk. If you still have time left and you want to get to the end of last edition’s cliff hanger, keep on scrolling. 

In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl

Alrightly then. Here we are, getting to the bottom of “what is this 13 week fitness challenge all about”!?!?

I’m a textbook example of a personality that needs exercise to let out frustrations, anxiety, stress, etc. While not opposed to getting pampered at a spa, that would in no way relieve my stress or make me feel better about life, that’s just icing. And as a (mostly retired) cake designer, I know, no matter how pretty the icing looks, it can’t fix a shitty cake.

In the past, when I was stressed or getting irritable, Ray would say “Oh my god, go for a run or something, you’re being a crazy person”. For me, a run in the fresh air, can fix almost anything.

In 2014 I got injured reeeeeal good. I got into a situation so deep that it was the start of degeneration of my hip and pelvis… at 30 years old. That was terrifying. So I backed off, took a break, recharged a little. Then came pregnancies, and what pregnancy does to a body, and then just being a mom: Where did all my time go? Blah blah blah. You get where this is going. Life is a runaway train.

ANYWAYS, one day in May, Ray found me kind of sad and looking at myself in the mirror. I had said something to the extent that I just feel like crap, that I have shirts in the closest from before we moved to Paris, and I just feel so out of touch with what’s in style and cute, and, and, and… So, in true Ray fashion, he tried to be supportive, and find the right words for that moment. But instead, he said “yeah, I noticed a lot of your clothes are kinda frumpy lately”…

I think by the speed and level to which my jaw dropped he realized his error and tried to back out of it. As a Ray translator, I can tell you that he actually meant, “Yeah, I noticed you have some old stuff kicking around, why don’t you take a day to go shopping?”, but unless it’s tech talk, words don’t always come out so smoothly for my dear hubby.

So, by the end of the conversation we got to the root of things. Basically, it’s time the BOTH of us started getting back at it. We signed up for a gym membership, and we are trying to log at least one run or ride together a week, just for old times sake. You have to remember, running together is the core of where and how our relationship started. Us going for a run together, might as well be a romantic dinner date, it accomplishes the same type relationship recharge if you will.

So there you have it. We put a challenge forth that we would both start taking care of ourselves a little better, put a goal date on the challenge so it had some purpose, and hopefully you guys as readers will get to see Ray and I doing some more runs and rides together!

For the record the challenge ends October 6^th. To which Ray will reveal to you a complete in-depth review of his current body biometric measurements of body fat, muscle composition, and strength and conditioning tests. Just kidding, he will do nothing of the sort. But we do have something pretty cool planned instead! Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading!

~The Girl.

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