You Win–You Choose DC Rainmaker Giveaway!

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Because it’s the end of February (already!), and because this month got shorted 2-3 days.  And because I found two cake stands while The Girl was out today and they made pretty holders.  No, I didn’t tie those bows.  Or choose the colors.  It’s like a buffet table of devices.

This month, I’m going to mix things up a bit.  In the past I selected a gadget that I thought would be interesting to you.  This time however, I’m letting you choose which gadget you want to win.  Yup, if you want the Suunto Ambit– it’s yours!  If you want the Garmin FR910XT – same thing.  Perhaps you’d like the Magellan Switch – again, yours.  Whatever fits your training best (up to $500US), I’m giving it to ya.  Ok, actually, Clever Training is giving it to you.

For example, say you’re a swimmer – you’ll probably want the Garmin Swim.  Or perhaps you’re a cyclist, you may prefer a CycleOps Joule or Joule GPS devices.

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Or maybe you’re of the Suunto, Timex or Magellan persuasion – don’t worry, those are there too.

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Then again, what if you were eyeing that Wahoo KICKR trainer poking out there in the background?

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Well, no worries, we’ll go splitsies on it (yes, I checked, that’s the common spelling).  You’ll get a $500US credit to Clever Training and you cover the rest beyond that.  Shipping for items is on me, so fear not.  And, as long as it’s under $500 you just tell me which item and like usual magic occurs.  You can wander around their site and pick out your mid-spring present to yourself.

Except, you cannot use the credit for pony’s, bunnies, or kittens.  And, the credit’s only good for a single packaged item.  Toys R US midnight dash this is not.  So choose wisely!

To enter yourself in, simply:

Detail out one workout that you have planned for sometime in the next seven days. If it’s as simple as “Run 2 hours at hard pace and don’t die”, then go with that.  If it’s more complex like a track or pool workout, detail out the steps.  At the end, we’ll end up with what should be fairly interesting workout library (or, a lot of confusing advice).

Got it?

Entries will be accepted through Sunday night, 11:59PM Eastern time (March 3rd, 2013).  I’ll be giving one device worth up to $500US from Clever Training.   Winner will be chosen at random and announced on roughly Tuesday (unless I can’t walk after Sunday’s half-marathon).  One entry per person.

This giveaway is sponsored by Clever Training, which I I have announced a partnership with.  As you probably remember, by picking up sports technology gadgets from Clever Training you support the site.  And on top of that, all DC Rainmaker readers get an exclusive 10% off all products they sell (basically every sports tech company/gadget/device) using coupon code DCR10BTF (along with the link above).  And most of all, you support the site in a big way – so I appreciate it!

Note, if you’re US Active Duty Military – you can submit your entry via e-mail instead.  Note that this is ONLY for Active Duty military.  No panda trainers or ice cream chefs allowed via this method.  Mmmkay?  Thanks all!

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2,783 Comments

  1. Matej

    A usual weekend + week start: 60k MTB yesterday (easier pace), 50k MTB today (quicker, but not super fast), 3k swimming / climbing in the evening, climbing / 3.5 swimming tomorrow…

  2. Daniel

    My entry is for today. I’m gonna submit myself to something they call Caveman, which apparently is two hours of swinging ropes, hammering tractor tires, climbing ropes and the likes. We’ll see if I pull through =)

  3. mojojosh

    Start the first round of Yasso 800’s for OC Marathon training with 4 x 800 meters at a 7:50 pace.

  4. Dunhill Deodores

    easy 10K run, still recovering from a marathon last week.

  5. Eric

    Getting ready for IMCDA
    Sunday Brick;
    2500 yd Moderate Swim
    3:30 Bike
    :30 Run

    Good times!

  6. Blanca

    Boot camp class at 7:30 AM, then a 10 km run on the trails with two (damned fast) work colleagues if the rain doesn’t ruin it!

  7. Brian

    50K Tour of Anchorage ski tomorrow. Keepin it relaxed the first 30k, then pick it up if I’m feeling good.

  8. Jed

    2000 yard swim (freestyle, kick, pull, breast stroke interchanged)… no cramps in the deep end so the lifeguard doesn’t have to pull me out!

  9. Tomas

    15min Warm-up
    8km hard pace
    15min recovery

  10. Elle

    Run 5 miles, training for SD RnR marathon!

  11. Gil

    10-20 minutes warmup
    10x400w/1:30 RI
    10 minutes cooldown

  12. Tony

    10km run
    4 x 40 push ups
    4 x 15 pull ups
    4 x 15 leg raises (ankles up to bar)

    All in 2 hour.

  13. Musette

    Easy, slow 5 mile run down the bike trail for about an hour. Then some fast pace walking back and forth, up and down the sections and aisles of Ikea.

  14. Floris Van de Vijver

    Tempo Swim 2.2:
    Set 1: 200m Z1 swim, Free and Back
    Set 2: 2x50m Z1 Drill + 10sec
    Set 3: 4x50m + 15sec building each 50m Z1-Z2-Z3-Z4.
    Set 4: 1500 Z3 swim + 30sec
    Set 5: 200m Z1 swim Free and Back
    Use the 1500m rep to practice your pacing for your race. Visualise yourself swimming in the event.

  15. FiorL

    warm-up

    12x400m @ 4:10 min/km, rec 200m

    coll down

  16. Erika

    This weekend a good skii session will be great :)

  17. My purpose for tomorrow’s bike ride is to reach my aunt’s home riding for 62 km. I hope for a not windy morning. :P

  18. Tomorrow I’m going to work by bike. 10 km is enough when you have a cold…

  19. As soon as my cold is better I’m going out cross country skiing!

  20. RobertC

    plan:
    • Run in Z2, easy pace, 60 minutes.
    • Run in Z3, half marathon pace, 30 minutes.
    • Cool down, 5 to 10 minutes.
    • Stretch
    and the sun is comming out !

  21. Trent

    Going to run 90 minutes up and down a mountain, about 15K.

  22. Jason

    7 mile training run on 3/3 in prep for Tough Mudder – want to hit below a 9:00/mi pace.

  23. AnneMa

    I have spinning interval at 0630.
    Way to kickstart your day.

  24. Rick

    Key 12 mile run Sunday. HM in 2 weeks and this will be my final “long” run before I start tapering. Looking to avg. 9:10 or so for this run.

  25. Larry

    90 minute workout using my Kinetic Trainer. Tempo training for improving race pace effort and increasing power output. 530am, a real daybreaker.

  26. Lars Ejaas

    12 km. medium pace run around 4:00 min/km. 8 x 200 m. fast repetition intervals included at 3:00 min/km. Repetition intervals are done to get the legs ready for interval training later within the next few weeks, without getting to tired (I have primarily focused on long easy runs during the winter).

  27. Rob

    A six mile tempo run on a cool Georgia morning.

  28. James

    Post ACL surgery, 50 thigh contractions followed by 50 squeezing knees together with rolled towel between them. May follow with a hobble to the fridge.

  29. Blake Helms

    Track workout:

    1 mi warm up
    4 x 1600 @ 9:38, with 2 min. rests btwn.
    1 mi cool down

  30. Simon Langer

    Tomorrow morning I am going to do my first recovery run since Tokyo Marathon last week. Probably 6-8 km slow and easy pace :)

  31. Jason Uhlrich

    I don’t have anything big planned. Probably a 40-50 minute run. I haven’t dipped my toes into the interval waters yet . . .

  32. Matthew

    Today’s workout calls for 75 min on the bike. RPE 5/6 out of 10

  33. Martin

    I am going to do an interval running training next Tuesday. This time, it is going to be:
    – 1 km warm-up
    – 6×3 minutes (~5:00 min/km) with 2 minutes easy jog between
    – 1 km cool-down

  34. Brett Erickson

    In addition to this weeks runs I have a 60 mile bike ride on the schedule. I’m traveling for work this week so I have the pleasure of exploring a new city (in this case Gainesville, FL) by bike. Looking forward to it!!!

  35. yyaguar

    Slow 12.5 km on sunday for steady buildup from 10k to half marathon distance.

  36. Mark

    15 minutes – Warm up (increasing intensity)
    5 x (4min high intensity + 2min low intensity)
    5 minutes cool down

  37. LCH

    A simple and short early season bike workout for building strength, trainer optional: 4×5′ in your biggest gear with 5′ recovery between each interval.

  38. Leo F

    A simple 4 mile run on Saturday then a few pool sessions. Still in my offseason for a few more weeks so I want to enjoy it

  39. plao

    Running: hill interval
    15 minute warm up followed by light stretch
    6 hill climbs. Each being minimum of 1 minute in length. Recover back down the hill.
    You want all 6 climbs to be the same time. So pace properly.

    15 minute warm down at the end.

  40. dboatRunner

    Middle distance runner that is doing Dragon boat off season training with a 10k race around the corner:

    monday:
    1) 3 x1km run with ERG rowing machine for 3 minutes in between each run (targets: 3:30/km run split, and 1:50/500m erg split)
    2) Weights

    Tuesday (easy-ish run)
    1) 9km run at 4:30/km pace
    2) Body weight excercises

    Wed
    – Off

    Thursday
    1) 1) 3 x1km run with ERG rowing machine for 3 minutes in between each run (targets: 3:30/km run split, and 1:50/500m erg split)
    2) Weights

    Friday:
    1)5km run 4:00/km split and 5km 4:30/km pace
    2)Bodyweight excercises

    Saturday:
    1) Pool paddling practice
    2) Circuit training.

    Sunday:
    -Rest.

  41. BG

    Run 10k at race pace, ~8 min/mi.

  42. René

    Repeat the workout from yesterday:
    Trail bike, five hours. Natural intervals looking for new trails to ride and picking up the best ones from before.

  43. Helder

    After a month and a half of forced immobility I’m slowly returning to running. This week I’ll build on the 30kms of the previous week following the 10% rule.
    Next week I’ll start with more intense training with some hills.

  44. MotorHeart

    Hi! My run plan.
    Friday – 1 hour wide run
    Saturday – 1 hour of acceleration
    Sunday – or is more 2,5 hours endurance

  45. Kir

    My goal is to ski 20 km to get ready for couple of nordic marathons.

  46. Michel R Alonso

    I’m working on my cycling skills so Thursday I’m doing a Spinervals series technique workout. Lots of one-legged pedaling which I hope will make my pedaling more rounded and efficient.

  47. Frank

    I’ve been neglecting my cycling training and hate riding the trainer. My goal or planned workout is to get at least 30 minutes on the trainer for 3 days next week.

  48. Sumrit

    Run 20km @ pace 6:40 min/km .

  49. Kristy Kelly

    Take a long walk around the lake today.

  50. Tanner Pinney

    Skate ski 20 km at 4 min / km pace, with hill repeats x 10. Then stairs x 1500. Feel the burn baby!

  51. Tanner Pinney

    Skate ski 20 km at 4 min per km pace, with hill repeats times 10. Then stairs times 1500. Feel the burn baby!

  52. Tanner Pinney

    Skate ski 20 km at a 4 min per km pace, followed by stairs times 1500 as quickly as possible. Still recovering from the American Birkebeiner. Feel the burn man.

  53. Bernard

    Mine will be an easy 5 to 7k recovery run, after the Jerusalem Marathon on Friday.

  54. Mariano Bernardo

    Run for more than 21km. I am trainng for the Madrid Marathon and this is going to be my first time running more than the the half marathon distance.

    So the plan is: Wake up at 7:00 am, have a breakfast, start at 08:00 am, run 24 km (more or less), have a shower and enjoy the rest of the day with my kids and wife…

  55. trell

    Climb 10x 30″ on 30″ off

  56. Steve

    Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Cycle 25-35 miles plus 1 hour of swimming when the pools open
    Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: 2 hours of rock climbing
    Sunday: Rest

  57. Tuesday, 28km crosscountry skiing on intensity 4. Hoping sub 2 hours :)

  58. Oana Bega

    Monday : easy run for 30′
    Thursday : 10km with heart rate bellow 165 (hope in 60′)

  59. Jon Delmore

    12 mile hilly run. work the uphills easy downhills.

  60. Rob Galliers

    Training for my first sprint Triathlon later this month
    Run – Swim – Run
    4km – 1km – 4km

  61. DanielS.

    Easy run in the forrest! about 2h GA1 training.

  62. Hubert

    Let the forest disover you :

    2km to get to there, slow (little warm up).
    Then repeat the following 6 times:
    800m (1/2 mi) fast
    45sec slow
    But most important : if anything stikes you (beautiful bird, colorful trees, …); just take the most of it and enjoy : you will have another time to train harder.
    Finally, 2km to get back home.
    Stretch
    This week, met 1 rabbit and 5 wild boars, last time some dears… because I learned to run quietly :-p

  63. James

    I’ll be running 10k in a loop along the Thames. No plan beyond running it as fast as possible and with a negative split.

  64. Mike G

    2hr. Tempo ride today followed by a 3mile run with 3- strides before warm down…

  65. Lisa R

    Adding a little cross training to the mix with snowshoeing today.

  66. I don’t know if there are any rowers on this website, so I thought I would lay down some real erging workouts because the ones I saw in the comments weren’t that great. (source: I rowed in high school for four years and won Stotesbury twice, once in the novice 8 and once in the Varsity B event), and rowed another four years in college and got second in the Dad Vail Freshman 8, second in the ACRA Varsity 8 twice, and third in the ECAC in the varsity 8 event)

    Here is my entry (#1), and the rest are just for everyone else. Ray – maybe you can do a piece on ergs/rowing at some point? Only Concept2 ergs are really worth your time, but hey, its another great sport in my opinion, and a lot of rowers move to triathlon-type stuff after they finish rowing.

    #1 (the entry) –
    I would do this once a week.
    1x1500m, one minute rest
    1x500m, ten minutes rest
    6x500m, one min rest in between each one.
    For anyone that doesn’t know, the 2k is the standard race piece in rowing. It’s what they do at the olympics, college races, even some high school ones too.
    This workout builds your 2k endurance by having you do 3/4 of a 2k, taking a short break just long enough for you to maybe catch your breath, and then crushing the last 1/4 of the 2k. Ideally you’re holding your pace on the 1500m part and then breaking past it on the 500m part. FYI, pace in rowing is per 500m. So if we’re trying to break 6 minutes 0 seconds on a 2k, we need to be going at least 1:30 per 500m.
    Then you take a nice long 8-10′ break. Obviously shorter is better because we’re training 2k endurance, but if your heart rate is still above 120bpm then you definitely need to rest a bit more. On the other hand, if you’re below 100bpm within the first four-ish minutes, 1) you could go much, much harder, 2) start doing the 500m part now!
    Now onto the 6x500m’s. Here you’re basically going to try and beat your pace and then some on each piece. So if your 2k time is 6:00, your pace is 1:30/500m. Well, we’re only going 500m, so make sure you complete each segment under that time. As you do this workout over the course of the season, you’re hopefully going to be getting better so we want to start going under your pace a little bit more each week. Say we want to do 2k-1. That would mean 1:29 each 500m segment. But maybe you can only do that for the first 2x500m… fine. Then hold 1:30 for the next two and try to not go up any higher above 1:31 on the final two. It’s better to miss your goal but stay consistent over the 500m segments than to do really well for the first couple and then limp over the finish line for the last bunch.

    Anyway, so that’s the workout. 1x1500m, rest 1′, 1x500m, rest 10′, then 6x500m, 1′ rest inbetween.
    Eventually you’ll do a 2K (ideally once a month or so) and then you’ll redo this workout based on that 2K.

    Here are the other workouts:
    #2 – 10K at 155HR (this is based on a college-aged male, so adjust HRs as necessary)
    #3 – 13′,12′,11′,10′,9′,8′,7′,6′,5′,4′,3′,2′,1′:1′ rest inbetween, 150HR
    #4 – 3×30′, 4-6′ rest inbetween, 150HR/155HR/160HR
    #5 – 4x5000m, keep between 150-160HR on all of them but go 16/18/20/18 SPM (strokes per minute)
    These are all what we’d call steady state.
    #6 – 3×15′, 7′ rest inbetween, 160-170HR. If you’ve done a 6K before, you want to be at 6K+5. If you’ve done a 5K before, you want to be at 5K+7. If you’ve been doing the steady state workouts, you want to be pace-10.
    #7 – 2x6k, 10′ rest inbetween, 170-180HR. Same pacing as #6, but preferably a little faster, like 6K+3, or steady state pace-15
    #8 – (my personal favorite) 2x8x1k, same pacing as #6. Take a minute break inbetween each 1K and a longer break inbetween the first 8x1k and the second 8x1k. If this is the first time you do it, you might want to just do a single set of 8x1k one week, then 8x1k and 8x4k a second week, then so on to slowly build until you’re doing 2x8x1k at the desired pace.
    These are all what we’d call AT (anaerobic threshold) workouts. They’re what help you build physical and mental capacity for racing. While the first workout (#1) is the speed workout (and it’s brother, the 8x500m), those are both short. You need longer workouts to essentially be the foundation for your speed work.

    Anyway, I’ve labored on for more than I intended, but hopefully this highlights some of the real work you want to be doing on an erg. Sure you can go for a lazy row once in a while, but that’d be like going to a gym to just walk on a treadmill… if you’re at the gym or on the water, you might as well make it challenging!

  67. Eoghan

    Swim this afternoon, 10 minute warm up then 1600m broken up into intervals of 200m, 20 seconds rest between each. 10min warm down

  68. My training plan would be:

    – HIIT (12km/h run; 8km/h rest; 1.30:1.00 mins ratio)
    – AB cruncher machine (30kg; 10reps; 3sets)
    – arm curl (12kg; 10reps; 3sets)
    – full squat with weight (12kg; 10reps; 3sets)
    – wide hands push up (10reps; 3sets)
    – close hands push up (10reps; 3sets)

  69. Sean

    Interval ladder on the bike at about 95-100% effort
    1 min on 1 min rest
    2 min on 2 min rest
    3 min on 3 min rest
    4 min on 4 min rest
    4 min on 4 min rest
    3 min on 3 min rest
    2 min on 2 min rest
    1 min on 1 min rest

  70. Chris

    5k run outside (I have two days of +10C surrounded by sub zero temps and snow).

  71. run – bike – run
    was the last 3 day with good weather really fun

  72. Michelle

    Deep water workout after a few months off (7 weeks postpartum)

  73. Andrew D

    1 mi warm up followed by 10x800m intervals with 1.5mi cool down

  74. corrado

    running 1h ti 1h15 min to get motivated again after a month and a half of sad sad weather,

  75. Tim

    Run half marathon sunday as training for the marathon!

  76. Francis Jago

    2 hour bike ride
    10-15m FTP intervals with 10m rest

  77. Irina O'Farril

    Demain: une demie heure de course et aprés une heure de musculation

  78. Cameron

    Tuesday’s workout is 60 min on the bike small chain ring low effort. Followed by a 30 min run, RPE 3.

  79. Elise Schwartz

    5 mile pace run, Wednesday

  80. Carlos Sagasta Reussi

    Warm up for 2km

    8×1000 @ marathon pace

    2 km easy recovery

  81. erom

    5×200 @ 3 min
    3000 swim

  82. erom

    5x 200 @ 3 min

  83. Pavel

    weekend 25 mile run +50 mile mtb

  84. larissa

    5 mile run in sunday

  85. Joe Meehan

    Ray- What a great giveaway idea!! My workout was a 16 mile hike up Saddleback Mountain to Santiago Peak in Orange County, California. That mountain (so I have heard) is not very big by west coast standards (Sierras, Rockies, Ranier, etc.) but it is supposedly taller than every mountain except one west of the Mississippi. That means in all of the Catoctins, Catskills, Alleghenies, Smokies, etc. there is only one mountain taller than the climb I’m doing. It is a 16 mile climb that peaks out at 5,687 feet of elevation. So excited!!!

  86. I’ll be doing workout 1 of week 3 of the 5k running program of the Zombies, Run! app. Getting chased by zombies is a great motivator to keep your pace up :-)

  87. I’ll be doing a few olympic lifting sessions as well as riding my bike a few times. Gotta get one run and one swim in as well.

  88. Gerard

    Hi Ray,

    Tuesday training will be a 1 hour technical speed skating sedsion, with lots of painstaking focus on style, posture and timing. this is followed by a 1 hour session to go with the days feeling.

    Nice work on the site. Love this giveaway, would like the Garmin Fenix package to use in Geocaching, outdoor running/trail activities

  89. Stefania

    I’m planning a 2 hour spinning lesson.

  90. Michele

    I think i’ll go or a quick tempo run

  91. anbody

    One foot isn’t doing well, so the next workout will probably a pull bouy only swimming workout again.

    Getting warmed up, doing some regular swimming, some meters technics, doing some intervals, doing some more lanes and swimming out.

  92. Adam White

    Pushups 5 sets: 14, 18, 14, 14, 20

  93. maximdamage

    Well, since i really need to do something to improve my climbing, it´ll be a hunted sufferfest.

  94. Shane O' Donovan

    10 miles @ 6.30 a mile, ballycotton Ireland

  95. Nick Gander

    Time Trial Intervals today –

    1hr easy warm up

    3×10 km building to 175bpm by the end (then 5 minute recoveries). Flat to slightly rolling course. Challenge yourself with big gears. On time trial set-up. 85-100 rpm. Aero position. Wait for blurred vision.Try not to barf.

    30 mins cool down

  96. Jon Rose

    Spring is almost here in the great Northwest. So a quick 20 mile ride out and back on the Spring Water Trail. Enough riding on the trainer in the bsmt. at least one time this week. Maybe twice if the warm weather holds.

  97. Oliverio Medina

    Hey Ray, I hope I get lucky this time around. I’m working on my core so lots of core strengthening excercises and aerobic sessions on the trainer to use the new cadence sensor I just installed yesterday.

  98. Steven Silvers

    Run as many laps as I can with out dropping.

  99. szyMarek

    Yesterday 20min@10k tempo run + 30min@T21, today LSD but not so slow: 26k@T21 (1h40)

  100. EvE

    Run15 Km & Mountainbike 25Km.