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.
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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!
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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.
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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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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 have 4-5 different pair that I wear at any time (2-3 different models of the same brand) and when one starts to feel a little less comfortable I pitch it and rotate in a new pair. I think about logging my miles on them, or even just # runs, but can barely remember to download my garmin. If there were a way to do it in the garmin I could totally do it.
I keep track of which Ghost 3’s I’m wearing by writing a number on the inside of the tongue using permanent marker. Now I just load the data to Garmin and look at the tongue to see which of the 3 pairs it was. Of course you have to be diligent about logging your data after each run ;)
It is usually when some mysterious ache pops up that I go oh goodness it’s time for new shoes isn’t it…Still horrible about tracking it. New shoes are HEAVEN :)
Hi Rainmaker
Please read the book “Born to run” from Christopher McDougall.
In chapter 25 he says several important thing but one is ” … The more cushioned the shoe, the less protection it provides. …”
Which means if you run more than 500 miles in your shoes the better they get.
Which means you don’t need to buy new shoes so often.
By the way this book is really mind opening.
Droffen
i really need to start tracking the miles on my shoes. i just decided to retire the shoes i ran the marathon in because my big toe can almost poke through the top of the shoe, even though i only started wearing them in january!
So I’ll point out the obvious that if you transfer your foot pod to the shoe you run in each time, if you alternate, you will always know which shoes you ran in last :-)
(I haven’t rotated in a while, but when I have, the orthotics are the dead give away as to which ones I ran in last!)
Argh. Right now I have 3 pairs of shoes each a different model (gt2150,kayano,kinvara). I’m new to running and was testing what fit my foot best.
Ever since I got rid of training peaks and just use my lazy upload directly to garmin connect I havent tracked the mileage.
Problem is I don’t rotate them equally (the footpod gives very different distances if I dont recalibrate it for the specific shoe!!!) and have probably the same mileage out of the kayano as the 2 other shoes combined….
Next time I’ll just buy the exact same shoe like you do and not rotate.
I’ve been doin the whole shoe rotation thing for a while now. I know the benefits, but I honestly haven’t gotten any more life out of the shoes – about 400 miles per pair (Brooks Ghost 2). SportTracks makes it pretty easy for tracking multiple pairs and I use a permanent marker on the actual shoe to indicate which shoe is which, since I’m on my 6th pair of the same shoes. If I had the footpod though, that would complicate things for calibration purposes, so it makes sense.
I also buy more than one pair of the same shoe and alternate between pairs. Using a permanent marker, I write the date I that I place the pair in service on the medial side of the midsole. This helps me distinguish between the pairs, and also reminds me each time I wear the shoes how long I have been using them.
i have an excel sheet that has the miles of my shoes on them. sadly it doesn’t guarantee that i retire them when i should!
Tracking milage is very easy on sporttracks! I got every km tracked since I started running. I even track milage on cloths and other items such as ipod and headphones ;) …. freak! … yes I know ;)