Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $699, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals 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.
You'll support the site, and get ad-free DCR! Plus, you'll be more awesome. Click above for all the details. Oh, and you can sign-up for the newsletter here!
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.Want to compare the features of each product, down to the nitty-gritty? No problem, the product comparison data is constantly updated with new products and new features added to old products!
Wanna create comparison chart graphs just like I do for GPS, heart rate, power meters and more? No problem, here's the platform I use - you can too!
Think my written reviews are deep? You should check out my videos. I take things to a whole new level of interactive depth!
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.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
Get all your awesome DC Rainmaker gear here!
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?
- Why haven’t you yet released a review for XYZ product you mentioned months ago?
- Will you test our product before release?
- Are you willing to review or test beta products?
- Which trainer should I buy?
- Which GPS watch should I buy?
- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
- I’m headed to Washington DC – what do you recommend for training?
- I’m from out of the country and will be visiting the US, what’s the best triathlon shop in city XYZ?
- What kind of camera do you use?
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
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 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.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the intensity or commitment where I would ever want or need a coach, but I feel extremely informed in case I do!
That is all fantastic advice. My coach was recommended by a coworker (who also used to to coach). After I ran into a few of her athletes and they raved about how they loved working with her I knew it would be a good fit. I feel like she has a great raport with her athletes and she’ll tell me when to back off, but push me when she knows I can go harder but I’m holding back.
You’ve definitely seen some great results with your coach, so it looks like you found someone who really works for you. Congrats!
This is great advice. For the longest time, I thought I would never find a coach who I could work with. Some have told me I can’t do what I do, that I needed to buy all sorts of gadgets and gizmos to get the results I wanted, that my relatively high HR zone levels indicates that I’m not in good shape??? Heck, I’ve been running for longer than some of them were even born.
But then the right coach came along. I love that we’re both old-school at heart, that he’s local so he can supervise some of my workouts, and responsive by email (and there’s no limit to the amount of contact). I’ve yet to see how this all pans out but I’m very happy with him so far!
this is truly great stuff. i’ve been thinking about finding someone to work with next season once i’m back on my feet and want to try to get serious about triathlons (rather than just messing around in all the disciplines as i currently do).
thanks for the excellent thoughts.
Excellent post. I committed to a coach for this season and unfortunately paid for an entire year upfront. After talking with her, I really loved her attitude and the first few months were great. Now, it can be days before an email is answered, she forgets races she told me to do and then advises against them after I registered (and paid), often posts duplicate workout weeks with no explanation, and I would bet, given the very little feedback on horrendous or terrific workout uploads, that she never even looks at the actual file. So….one added suggestion to your post is until you have a solid history – pay month to month. I’m paid and stuck so am trying to make the most of it.
Great post, Ray. Thanks for sharing your experience.
One of these days I’ll get around to paying for a coach. I’m doing quite fine right now, although I know a coach would push me to a different level.
Perhaps when it’s time to re-attack the IM distance…
Thanks for getting to my questions!
Good post. I had offers to join a larger coaching team and went against it because I did not want to stretch myself thin with the athletes who are my #1 focus…Team in Training. I have one coached athlete outside of my Team in Training athletes and it is done for no pay because I told this person that they were my test subject. I have seen this person through an IM race and now we are prepping for another one. I guess that I did an o.k. job since I was kept on as this person’s coach.
But again, my main focus and my main love is working with beginners doing sprint and olympic distance races. Many of the people that I coach for Team in Training go on to do half IM and IM races and even qualify for USAT Nationals or the IM 70.3 World Championships. Even though they no longer use me as their coach, when I see them or they send me an email they still call me “Coach”. I am very proud of all of their accomplishments.
great post.
splitting up with a bad coach is similar to splitting up with a bad boyfriend…or therapist. You have to bite the bullet and just rip off the band aid!
I just fired my lifecoach. I wonder if that means i won’t have a life anymore…hmmm.
I would like to throw my support behind your coach as he is awesome.
Speaking of which, I should get off my ass and see about training some …
Excellent post here. It really is all about the commitment of the coach to YOUR training and goals rather than his/her commitment to their’s.
Great post. I sort of inherited my coach, still don’t know how :) She started giving me training tips for a 210km ride I was doing, and we went from there.
The thing I like the most is the mental work she does with me. I did my first 1/2 marathon last weekend and was nervous as anything before hand; all the what if’s going through my head.
We spent an hour walking through how things would progress from from dinner two nights before (!) to three days after the event. Going through expectations, what time would be the worst case, the expected and the dream (achieved the dream).
Worked through all my questions and laid out the plan, all I had to do was follow it and that was the difference for me. Ran the perfect first event, and I don’t know who was happier; me or the coach.
Ray, I ran across this post long after you wrote it. I am fairly new triathlon coaching, and this post created quite the stir locally over the summer. I was wondering, do you have any new insight, thoughts, or learning on coaching since this post? I coach a small number of athletes because I still believe that coach #2 is the way to go, and as a consumer of coaching myself, this is what I expect. But not all feel this way.
Thanks
Jeff
Not much has changed honestly since I’ve written it. I still use the same coach and I still get the same value out of the day by day changes that he’s able to commit to.
While I understand the ‘value’ of having a coach spit out an internet plans that are repeated over and over again without human involvement, I don’t see the value over just buying a training plan off the internet and having no expectation of coaching support.
Meaning, that there’s huge value in having a coach who’s writing a plan specific to you, and then providing feedback based on how your executing those workouts and work/life balance/changes.
There’s also value in downloading a pre-canned plan off the internet and following it. Where I don’t see much value is downloading what are basically pre-canned plans from a coach at a higher price where the price doesn’t include free-flowing e-mail and/or changes.
Just my two cents.
Hi Ray,
I just started looking for a coach and came across this post. I’m curious, to get the kind of personal attention you describe, what should someone expect to pay? I know this is a tough question because it obviously varies a lot even from just the 2 coaches you’ve used. I guess I’m trying to get a rough feel for what I should be willing to pay for that kind of attention. Also, it sounds like your coach mainly gives you workout advise. How about technique training? That would require more one on one work I would think and I’m not sure if an internet coach could help with that at all.
Pay varies heavily on a ton of factors, from the area, to the coach. In my case he’s retired and just does it for a small number of athletes. I pay about $200ish a month.
When I lived in the DC area, I did also do technique training in swimming, and occasionally some running workouts at the track focused on technique.
Three different triathlon coaches treating me as revenue stream. No feedback on workouts, even if requested. Difficulty to join. No comments on race. No encouragement!
I have elected to write my program and to listen to my body!
I guess I’m trying to get a rough feel for what I should be willing to pay for that kind of attention. Also, it sounds like your coach mainly gives you workout advise.
Love your columns. I’m 55 and under performing after 14 Olympic tri in the past three years. I believe I need a coach. I coach and compete in swimming in Alexandria. I can’t seem gauge the right level of training vol vs intensity and balance both with recovery.
Do I need to have personal contact with my coach or s internet and phone sufficient?
Thanks
I generally just use internet and phone. Even though I’m now based in Paris, and my coach still in Alexandria area (well, Springfield), it continues to work well.
When I lived in DC he did a bit of pool technique sessions to work on form, since swimming is heavily driven by technique. But otherwise unless we were working on something on the bike (mechanical related), or I was just having dinner with him – it’s all via e-mail.
For me, the biggest value he’s provided is that balance. Especially in keeping from overextending oneself after hard efforts and in particular after races.
I’ve been working with a coach for about six months now and torn between satisfied and dissatisfied. One week, he’s supporting me with his attendance and providing pre-race guidance at a local race, but then the next month he has forgotten to give me a race plan for my first 1/2 IM…nor can I get a hold of him.
Frankly, I’m wondering if I’m too ‘new’ for his group of athletes. All five of his other athletes have been with him for five or more years – which should be a positive sign. He often gets annoyed when I ask for details about a workout (usually there is only title in a TrainingPeaks entry), so I suspect the rest of his athletes already know what to do. He hasn’t asked me to do an FTP or time trial (swim or run), so I’m not sure how he’s figuring out my numbers…but he tells me not to worry so much.
As for regular communication, he is responsive to texts and emails, but only for logistical questions. He is local, so I have been able to meet him a couple of times in the last six months. But is that enough?
Oh, and I pay $250/mo. I thought that was a decent value – but is it? Based on reading your post and the comments/exchange above, it sounds like I should cut bait. Your thoughts?
Hmm, that’s tough. On the TP side, my coach doesn’t schedule workouts in TP – but rather just via Word. It’s logical, in that it’s a cleaner workflow for him (and me), so that doesn’t bother me at all. But either way, I’ve got complete details of each workout.
Never once in the 5+ years has my coach even hinted at being upset at me asking for clarification on a workout. He’s always happy to clarify.
For figuring out tests, he could be using some of your workouts to determine that. In my case, my coach used an FTP test that predated him a few months to establish zones – but he tweaks them every once in a long while, and did a little bit more often at the beginning with him.
As for the price, that’s a good value. Communications will vary, but I can call/e-mail/text and get a response usually within a few minutes (unless my coach is in the middle of a workout of his own, then it’s an hour or two). When I was in DC (and he was local), he didn’t go to events per se, but I met him regularly mostly for swim sessions, and then also to help me with bike things. Or just to have dinner.
Just wanted to see if you could provide Alan Melvin’s contacts as it is not listed with usat coaches and I can not find an email. Is he still coaching?
My best,
mike
First, I have to say thanks for the tons of helpful and useful info you give your readers on a weekly basis. I’d like to know more about heart rate training. I’ve been running for a while now, but don’t seem to be getting too much better/faster. I don’t have the money for a coach and need to rely on training plans I find online or in books. I’ve read about your use of heart rate training, having really helped you improve your results. Any books or other resources you would recommend on the subject? Or maybe its own post? I’d really appreciate any help.
Hello Chris, you posted a over a year ago and I was just looking through some of RM’s coaching posts.
Anyway hope you have found the answer to your question by now. If not then there is a very simple way to track and improve running.
Pace – the time it takes to run every km/mile
Heart rate zones 1 – easy, 5 – full sprint.
if you have a watch like a polar or garmin you can see the two on a graph in two lines. the basic idea is the lines can follow more or less the same same distance apart (hills are an exception) and as you will see on longer runs that as you get tired the pace will drop and heart rate increases. this in the limit of you fitness.
Training runs of duration, and intensity on different days per week will improve your fitness limit.
I have also attached a quick example of just traing with pace – you will see the progression of this runner.
hope that helps
Caspar
Great post! Using the help of experienced coaches will transform the training and racing and can made triathlon an even more enjoyable experience. Thanks for sharing. :)