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I’m DC RAINMAKER…
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Ray Elsewhere
Did you know I write a weekly column over on Slowtwitch?
Check out my Product/Electronics posts in Ray’s Sports Electronics Mailbag - they are packed full of 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 GPS Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent gadget recommendations guide (2012) – covering almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day to day? I also just put together my complete 2012 ‘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!
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Understand technology and sport in the How-To Guides.
I enjoy explaining new things to folks – especially showing people how to get the most from their gadgets. Here’s an ongoing list of “How to” guides.
4
Read my Top 25 most useful posts.
It turns our I’ve written a fair bit of stuff over the past few years – and after it disappears from my front page, a lot of it never really sees the light of day again without Google’ing skillz. Or a photographic memory…which I don’t have. I’ve taken a look back and found stuff that…continues to find a trickle of readers via web searches or forum links.
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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.
Race Report
Versailles Triathlon 2013 Race Report
Here’s my first race report from racing a triathlon in France – the Versailles Triathlon. While this isn’t my first sporting event here (that would be the half and full Paris Marathons), it is in fact my first multisport event. … Read More Here
Paris Marathon 2013 Race Report
The goal going into the Paris Marathon was to help pace The Girl. The idea started last fall, before things got a bit hectic in our lives. Between her working 12 hours a day and running/opening a small business, and … Read More Here
Paris Half-Marathon 2013 Race Report
You know what I appreciate about the Paris Half-Marathon? It started at 10AM. Yes, 10AM! That means that we woke up around…ohh…8:15AM, walked a few hundred meters to the Metro, and took a short 11 minute Metro ride to the … Read More Here
The Santa Corrida de Noël 10K Race Report (2012)
This would be our very first race here in France. Now that things have sorta settled down between moving, opening a storefront, and just life in general, we figured a race might be in order. Of course, neither of us … Read More Here
Singapore Brooks Run Happy 9K Race Report
Back a few months ago when we first realized we’d be going to Singapore (actually, for all the cities we’d be visiting), I looked up the race calendar for this past weekend. Turns out, there were a number of races … Read More Here
2012 Escape from Alcatraz Race Report
There are just a handful of triathlon events out there that seem to make nearly every triathlete’s bucket list. This past winter when I heard of the opportunity to qualify for the Escape from Alcatraz event via a local yet … Read More Here
2012 Equinox Indoor Triathlon Race Report
As you’ve probably noticed – I’ve been super hesitant on publishing a race schedule this year. Not because I don’t want y’all to know where I’m racing – but rather simply because I don’t know where I’m racing much more … Read More Here
George Washington Birthday 10K 2012 Race Report
Every year ahead of Presidents Day weekend I get a little notice on my front door saying that there’s going to be a race that upcoming weekend and to be aware of the impact it might have to residents attempting … Read More Here
DC Hot Chocolate 15K 2011 Race Report (Alternate Title: How not to organize a race)
(I’m going to start this like any other race report…but fear not, I’ll get to my ‘suggestions’ section later on. It’s probably better to just sit back, and let it all unfold – rather than going straight into rant mode.) … Read More Here
2011 Philadelphia Marathon Race Report
My goals for the Philly Marathon were pretty clear from the start of this year: Break 2:50 In fact, I probably valued the Philly Marathon more than Boise 70.3 back in June. My previous Philly Marathon time stood at 2:54, … Read More Here
2011 DC Tri Race Report –3rd Overall!
Prior to the race, many folks asked how I thought the race might go – and my only answer was to sum it up simply as a ‘Hail Mary’ of sorts. The last week has been far from ideal as … Read More Here
Ironman Boise 70.3 2011 Race Report
You know, races are funny things. Sometimes they’re a test of physical strength, sometimes mental strength – and sometimes a combination of both (as well as usually a bit of luck). The other challenge with races is that the more … Read More Here
2011 Escape from Ft. Delaware Race Report
The Escape from Ft. Delaware is a bit different than most races from a logistics standpoint – but that made it absolutely perfect as a lead-up to my ‘A’ race – Boise 70.3 – here in about 3 weeks. See, … Read More Here
Rumpus in Bumpass Olympic Triathlon Race Report
When we arrived at the lake Friday evening to pickup our race packets, the weather was beautiful. You really couldn’t have asked for a nicer evening perched on the side of the water. Regrettably…the weather would not hold another dozen … Read More Here
National Half-Marathon Race (Pace) Report
You know what’s the nice part about a running race? You don’t have a massive pile of junk that you have to setup anywhere. It’s really rather simple actually. You’ve got shoes, shorts, top and a race chip. Perhaps you … Read More Here
Giant Acorn (Nut) 2010 Race Report
The Giant Acorn Triathlon (which I enjoy calling ‘The Giant Nut’ instead) is held about 90 minutes south of Washington DC at Lake Anna, the site of many other triathlons that I’ve done in the past – including the Rumpus … Read More Here
The Las Vegas Triathlon (not much of a) Race Report
If you were following my Tweets this past weekend, you know that things weren’t quite all rosy in Las Vegas for me. Shortly after wrapping up my week-long wandering of the Interbike floor, The Girl and I headed out for … Read More Here
Kirkland Triathlon 2010 Race Report
With the past week as busy as it was travel-wise, I really had no idea what exactly to expect when it came time actually throw-down at Saturday’s race. Luckily, the distance was a sprint – otherwise I suspect the week’s … Read More Here
St. John’s Newfoundland Triathlon Race Report
Sometimes…things go well, like really well. And sometimes, things don’t go so well, like rather badly. As for this race…well, the number three wasn’t just the number of sports I did today. But let’s start at the beginning. The beginning … Read More Here
The New York Triathlon 2010 Race Report
There are early race start times…and then there’s Nautica’s NYC Triathlon start times. How early you might ask? Well, 5:54AM. I don’t even think the birds are up that early. But…I was. Actually, I was up at 4:00AM. Luckily, I … Read More Here
Tidewater Triathlon 2010 Race Report
The Old Point Tidewater Triathlon is a semi-local triathlon a few hours south of Washington DC in the Virginia Beach area. We picked the race as a nice ‘in between’ race after Rev3 Knoxville in May and the NYC Triathlon … Read More Here
The ‘I got hit by a car during the race’ Rev 3 Knoxville Race Report
Given you’ve probably read the title of this post, you have a rough idea what happens at some point along the way in this story. That means you also think you know how this story ends, but just for fun … Read More Here
The Rumpass in Bumpass 2010 Race Report
If there was ever a race to do based on name alone, this would be it. I mean – really – how many races have the ASS word not once – but TWICE in name of the race? The RumpASS … Read More Here
Seattle Rainman Triathlon 2010 Race Report
If there were ever a triathlon to do, having one virtually named after oneself seems like the kinda event I’d want to start with. I heard about the Rainman Indoor Triathlon back a few months ago, and a bit later … Read More Here
St. Patrick’s 8K Race Report
Alternative Title I: Finally! Alternative Title II: Adventures of blurry cam! But more on the alternative titles in a bit. Let’s get to the start first. And getting to the start required the Metro. It’s just so much easier for … Read More Here
Tidal Basin 3K Race Report: Things that hurt…a lot.
It seemed like a good idea yesterday. It did not seem like a good idea at mile 1. But first…let’s rewind to last year. Last December DC runner/blogger Peter was taunting me to show up at the monthly Tidal Basin … Read More Here
Ironman Florida 2009 Race Report
My alarm started buzzing away at 4:30:00AM…and started hitting snooze at 4:30:03AM. After thinking through the situation for a bit more, I hit snooze another few times – taking me to about 5AM – when Lindsay called (I asked her … Read More Here
2009 Chesapeake Man Aqua-Velo Race Report
The Chesapeake Man Ultra Triathlon is essentially a Ironman Distance Triathlon, but because World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) owns the naming rights to “Ironman”, these non-M-Dot races (referring to the logo of the M with a dot) are usually called something … Read More Here
Nation’s Triathlon 2009 Race Report
As with most any race – the first order of business is packet pickup and usually some form of race briefing. Now, the Nation’s Triathlon also offers a swim practice on Saturday afternoon as well. So, we decided to knock … Read More Here
Ironman Canada 2009 Race Report
The morning started much like any other race morning. I managed to get about 6-7 hours of sleep, which was a pretty good amount considering everything. So when the alarms went off I was pretty much ready to go. However, … Read More Here
Ironman Rhode Island 70.3 – 2009 Race Report
The Ironman Rhode Island 70.3 course is a bit different than most triathlon courses out there, primarily due to its point to point nature. This means that instead of starting and ending in roughly the same place, you actually start … Read More Here
2009 Washington DC Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Race Report
The first order of business in any triathlon is packet pickup, which I accomplished the day before downtown at the Hyatt. It as pretty cool seeing a number of the pro’s hanging out in the lobby, preparing for their race … Read More Here
Reston 2-Mile Race Report…and some BBQ!
Sunday morning brought a flurry of activity. First up, was injecting my pork ass with a secret sauce (see previous day). Well, technically it’s not too secret, especially since I’m re-publishing it here. But that said, but injecting the pork … Read More Here
Kinetic 2009 Sprint Tri Race Report
As far as race days go for triathlons, you couldn’t ask for a better day. Despite enough rain lately to consider building an ark, the sun decided to shine for just one day (in the middle of a 10-15 day … Read More Here
The 2009 Boston Marathon Race Report
Despite the fact that the Boston Marathon starts at a rather comfy 10:00AM, I was up at a rather un-comfy 4:45AM in order to get to the buses on time. Buses you ask? Well, the Boston Marathon is a point … Read More Here
Escape from Ft. Desoto Tri Race Report…btw…1st in AG.
Some races you just have a good feeling about, while others you don’t. Back a few weeks ago I had a ‘less than ideal’ feeling about the National Half-Marathon. But this past week, I was feeling pretty good going into … Read More Here
Accidentally placing – Yorktown Victory Run 8 Mile Race Report
I drove down last night to the Virginia Beach area to run with a friend in a local 8-miler race. However, I wasn’t racing, but rather just doing it as part of a training run (about 11 miles total). So … Read More Here
Ya win some, ya lose some: National Half Marathon
I knew on Tuesday things were going to be rough. My HR’s were way higher than normal – both on and off the track. I was hoping I might slide by with enough recovery such that by Saturday things would … Read More Here
Running like a skirt
Yesterday was the Celtic Solstice 5-Miler held in Baltimore. A small group of us went up the night before and had a big ol’ slumber party. Well, as exciting a slumber party can be when you’re a bunch of runners … Read More Here
Tidal Basin 3K Race Report (oh…I kinda won)
It’s been about a year. A year since Peter first started poking me about coming out and running the Tidal Basin 3K monthly race. But earlier this week I poked him back and asked him if he was going to … Read More Here
Jingle Bell 10K Race Report – Umm..that hurt.
This past Sunday represented the last race of the year. Well, the last race I’d ‘race’ anyway. I still got some goodness coming up this weekend, but that’s just for fun. You say all races are fun? Umm…no…not all. Sure…before, … Read More Here
Philadelphia Marathon 2008 Race Report
There’s really no better place to eat your night-before-the-race-dinner than a restaurant named the ‘Marathon Grill’. With that, begins my (hopefully quick but turned out not so quick) 2008 Philly Marathon Race report. Since the race was kinda a blur … Read More Here
A 10K, a marathon and wilderness in between
Let’s try and keep this weekend recap quick. On Friday night myself and two friends drove down to Charlottesville, VA to run in a 10K race there (Bad to the Bone 10K aka Charlottesville Fall Classic). (I’m in the lower … Read More Here
The Army 20-Miler Race Report and Weekend Update
I had originally planned earlier this year to use the Army 10 Miler Race to try and go sub-60 minutes. But after my coach and I developed a plan for the year which included going solidly below 3:00 for the … Read More Here
Failboat, now arriving
Within the small circle of friends that I run with on a regular basis we often joke about committing a ‘fail’ – as epitomized on the fail blog via the Failboat. While I personally manage many fails on a daily … Read More Here
Nations Triathlon 2008 Race Report
You may already know the resultant, but let’s talk through how it all went down. Pre-Race: I was a bit concerned with logistics race morning as a TON of streets were closed and since our bikes were already checked in … Read More Here
Ironman Canada 2008 Race Report
(My brother in the 5AM hour writing in chalk on the run course) Before I get started, in case ya missed it, here’s the days leading up to Ironman Canada, covering all of the pre-race action: Day 1, Day 2, … Read More Here
Rhode Island Ironman 70.3 Race Report
The entire race can basically be summed up in the following: “Holy CRAP did I just bike that fast?”. But, since I’m not summing it up in just one short phrase – you get the full race report. Logistics: The … Read More Here
2008 Philly Triathlon Race Report
It will be my attempt to keep this somewhat short. However, usually I fail in that endeavor. Actually, it will be more photogenic than usual, with less text. Saturday: A good friend offered to both take photos…and fly me up … Read More Here
Wildflower Race Report: Where art thou…?
Wildflower has a bit of a reputation, both on the course and off. Off the course it’s known as the ‘woodstock’ of triathlon. And on the course it’s known for dishing out the pain. The long course has its renowned … Read More Here
GW Parkway 10 Miler Report: Aka – the mother of all negative splits
Alternate titles: “Top 20 finish”, “How to take photos on the run”, “How not to take photos on the run”, “How to lay down a monster 100 yard sprint finish”, “PR baby”, “I should cycle 90 miles the day before … Read More Here
Oceanside 70.3 Race Report (aka: There be big hills in California)
Remember yesterday’s post about how the Oceanside area is beautiful? Well, it is – that’s still true. Except, I probably should have withheld a bit of judgement until AFTER I had to cycle over 56 miles of hills. In.the.wind. With … Read More Here
Time Capsule: My First Triathlon – Seafair Sprint Tri 2007
Last summer I did my first triathlon. This was before my blogging days. I originally wrote up this race report for a triathlon distribution group/list within my company, as is customary after a race. I realized I had never posted … Read More Here
Philly Half Marathon – Top 10 in AG – Woot!
For future athletic reference – 13.1 miles is a long way to run at a 6:20 pace. Which is why my body made the decision this morning it was going to run it at a more ‘gentlemanly’ 6:36 pace. My … Read More Here
iWon
Ok, never mind the fact that it was a tiny little 5K ‘race’. There was no special timing chips or start waves or even web page. Never mind that it only had 20-25 people in it. That’s all besides da … Read More Here
The 2008 Marine Corps Marathon Race Report
7:56AM – Sitting in the port-a-potty losing a pound or so. The race starts in 4 minutes, about a quarter of a mile away. Uhh…yeah. But, we manage to make it to our spot near the 3:30ish marker just as … Read More Here
Army 10 Miler Race Report
Dang it’s hot today. To illustrate my point – here’s a screen shot of the the weather.com page for the area: Now mind you – it was actually far more humid earlier in the day (albeit slightly cooler). I wasn’t … Read More Here
The Nation’s Triathlon Race Report
Boo-yah, that’s about all I have to say. Here’s the short version: 7th in age group (out of 90), with PR’s in every category known to mankind. 7 561 RAINMAKER 25 Alexandria VA 15 26:17 3:20 16 1:05:30 1:05 11 … Read More Here
Big Kahuna 70.3 Half Iron Race Report
So here we go…my sorta long race report for the Big Kahuna 70.3 in Santa Cruz, CA. Pre-raceI got up around 5AM after about 6 hours of sleep, pretty good for the night before a race, and a bit later … Read More Here
