Heads up! The massive Sports Tech Deals list is here! Including huge discounts on Apple, DJI, Fitbit, Garmin, Google, GoPro, Peloton, Samsung, Tacx, Wahoo, and tons more! From the Garmin Epix at $449 (insane!) and Forerunner 965 deals, to the slightly newer Garmin Epix Pro & Fenix 7 Pro at $200 off, to the Apple Watch Ultra 2 deal, and the Tacx NEO 2T for $899. There’s huge savings, and constantly updated!
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:
With TPC (The Pro's Closet), you'll save $40 on purchases over $200 with coupon code DCRAIN40 for tech and non-tech purchases!
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 GPLAMA, 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.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras and Equipment 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! 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.
Tuouhese cardio workouts before doing your abdominal exercises. Add in a good diet plan to your routines and you’ll be noticing changes in no time! Be sure to workout no less than 3 days a week making sure that you manage to finish each core exercise within the week.
As a math person, that 10% rule has always bothered me. If you are recovering from an injury and have 0 running miles, well, then you can never increase! So where do you start?!
Ray, you obviously adore your coach.Given the relationship you have with him ,how can you objectively look at his performance in regards to continuing to pay for services or moving on to another coach ? I ask because I have noticed a pattern over the last year or two of ‘falling’ times in similar races for you (we all use the work excuse). In fact now you seem to not want to post times anymore ? Can a adorable relationship possibly block us from considering someone else ?
Not using a progression is EXACTLY how I got hurt when I switched from all running to Tris. I didn’t work my running miles up, despite running less, and ended up suffering in all 3 sports, performance-wise (well, that and I did all my biking on a 15-year old MTB).
Now, I’m really screwed up in my knee, and doing PT sessions twice weekly. When I’m back into the swing of things, I’m definitely using a training book/guide, or good ol’ DCR for mentoring. I hate how I look/feel this year. 🙁
Hi Terry-
I think a lot of things go into looking at his (and my) perfomance, but in many ways that depends on my goals with working with him. Keep in mind my goals aren’t nessessarily to win every race (though that might be nice, it’s not realistic), much of what I enjoy about working with a coach is how much I learn about the sport and training.
If I look at 2010 (last year) my season was mixed. It started off really good with a 8K run PR and then outright winning my first triathlon of the season, April brought a good solid podium finish as well.
Things did indeed get a bit rough after May, but I think if you look at the details – some of it kinda makes sense:
A) I got hit by a car in the Rev3 race in May…that put a dent in training and racing for quite some time
B) I spent June-December travelling every.single.week to a different international country for work. My commute was 11,000 miles each way, mostly on redeyes. I knew this upfront and thus didn’t put much importance on racing and training in the second half of the year.
Looking at my only ‘A’ race for last year – NYC Tri – even though I wasn’t happy with my bike, I still PR’d the race for a true non-short Oly-distance race and set a new run PR (39:00).
You mentioned ‘years’, and above I focused on 2010. In 2009 I PR’d at every single race I did that year (except Boston and the Turkey Trots, those were for fun). For 2011 my “A” races are in June and November – those are my benchmarks.
As for not posting times, I do actually post my times, AG places and everything else in every race report. I haven’t yet added the 2011 sidebar thingy with all my races and times…merely because I just don’t have enough minutes in the day to do everything. Or even 10% of everything I need to do around these parts. I know it sounds small – and it is, but I just have to prioritize the massive list of items on the to-do list each day and this one simply has been lower. That said, I’ll get it done/updated today.
Thanks for reading!
-Ray
Thanks Ray ! Good luck this season !
I love looking at mileage progressions! (OK seriously I love all the little graphs and analysis tools in TP LOL) Mine look very similar for my builds over each year – fun stuff!
Ray – Way to nix the haters!
eric