Heads up! The big Garmin annual spring sale has started, with $200 off the Fenix 8 (first sale to date!), $100 off the Edge 1050, Forerunner 965 at $499, the Forerunner 265, the new Instinct 3, and countless other Garmin products including inReach Mini 2. Plus the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium is on sale, and some Suunto & Wahoo product deals too. Full list & thoughts here!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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 2024 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.
Trying to do more open water swims so joined the local ‘icebergs’ for a morning swim. Next time – wetsuit, booties, thick cap!
Last Thursday morning in Scarsdale. Two degrees. Three miles into the run: eyes on cars and traffic light, foot went into a pothole. Ouch. Three days off but no serious damage luckily.
Last Sunday I got the itch to take the bike out after a couple weeks of indoor training. Good news was the bike path was empty. Bad news it was 20 degrees and I realized my toes were going numb since I didn’t have shoe covers. It wasn’t a long ride.
Not really much to brag about. 14 mile 33 deg F run in Phoenix. About as cold as it’s gotten this year.
Cycling at -5 deg Celsius, never again.
On Jan. 24, I ran a 3.5 mile loop with my white German Shepherd when it was 9F out. As we reached the end, she just looked up at me with pure doggy joy – with ice in her whiskers!
About 70F, inside on the mill. Been nursing some injuries, so that’s all I’ve been able to muster so far.
I will admit to being a weather wimp, but the pool heater at my local pool was off for a week and I swam in a very cold pool a couple weeks ago. It took the entire 500 yard warmup just to feel like I could stop for a minute and regroup.
The coldest day was actually on this week while we are skiing in Tirol, Austria. The weather was really cold (-10 degrees Celsius) and there were a lot of snowing and fog all over the ski routes. In spite of this we went skiing and it was still sooooo good. :)
Fat Biking to work this winter (somewhat regularly it seemed) at -25C without the windchill factored in. I tell myself each year that we’ll only have 10 commuting days like this. I reached my limit already this year.
My 12 mile commute last Friday was 5F
link to strava.com
but the coldest was a quick trip to the metro at -1.8F
link to instagram.com
we’re having a competition in DC to see who rides the most in the winter!
freezingsaddles.com
Coldest workout this winter would be a ride on the trainer or a run on the treadmill in the garage. I don’t venture outside when it gets cold. Can’t stand it. Give me boring days inside anytime.
100 miles at Hains Point, in the rain, this past December!
I’ve been lucky here in Texas, lowest I’ve run in is probably around 19-20 degrees in the last few months.
I was doing a over 2,000ft hill climb on my MTB late in the day. Wanted to finish really bad so it got dark along the way which wasn’t so bad on the up but the down was bad. I ended crashing on some ice. Then I was really cold and still had to make it home. It was tough!
Here in Wisconsin, I went swimming inside when it was -15F outside. It was so cold that the inside of the door to the outside was covered in frost/snow about an inch thick. The cold air shrunk the door enough to allow cold air to come in and freeze the humid air of the pool.
2 mile run at night. It was a good kind of cold though, it was crisp and the wind didn’t bite into me too much, so I really enjoyed it.
it’s been nice here in nor ca, but one day we went out for a ride, it was around 40F windy and wet.
Completed a long run, 10 miles or so, in -20F temps. Just to see what clothing was needed in order to stay warm but not too warm.
We have a warm winter this year in the Netherlands. So my coldest run was 17 km at 2C but with terrible rain showers and harsh wind. When I returned home I was more then soaking wet.
Run last sunday at Ozarow Mazowiecki next to Warsaw Poland.
Temprature -17c + wind 35 km/h = felt -27c (-16F)
Very soft but deep run, breaking snowdrifts along the fields with my Asics Gel-Arctic and 20x 9mm spikes :)
Can’t really complain about the weather here in Cali, but the coldest run I’ve done has probably been in 30-40° weather.
My coldest run ever was last NYC Marathon, around 40 F. For me it was definitely cold, since I live in Brazil where I am used to run at 80 or 90 F.
Not the coldest winter right now in Belgium… So far, i’ve not been running in freezing cold temperatures.
….and I don’t regret about that!
A 22 mile ride up to East Fork and back in sunny Southern California.
Being from Miami we don’t get many cold snaps, but a few weeks ago we the temperature got down to the 40’s really early in the morning (5:00 am) and that’s when i was doing a training run, halfway into the run it started raining which only felt colder….I was cold with pruny fingers and toes.
Wasn’t sure about the exact temperature, but it was 5:30 am. At the end of five miles, while on the last sprint home, I realized that the my sweaty ponytail was frozen where it was sticking out of my hat.
My coldest run was mid January in Denmark. Temperatures not that awful, just a couple of degrees below zero. What I did not expect with 10k left was the sudden heavy winds bringing the chill factor to around -20; all frozen around my mouth when I got home, and almost unable to speak.
Yesterday, 2 hrs uphill repeats on a small hill in Warsaw. It was midnight, -14C, and the strong wind made it more like -25C. The snowflakes hurt my face like needles!
My coldest run was like a week ago and it was negative 6f. Nothing super special, but still cold enough.
It was a long, dark and cold 13 miles.
I love running in snow – off road it’s the best sort of running, very hard on the legs though as you never know how deep it is. We not had any snow in England yet hopefully we get some soon.
My low temperature limit is 0F, any lower I’ll stay inside. Over the last few weeks I’ve had a few runs at 1F (-17C). By the time I’m done my eyelashes are usually frozen.
About 30F and snowing. When the snow hit you, it melted, leaving you wet and miserable.
Last december I rode my commute to work (34km one-way, 68km total) in about -14C. Fair amount of snow had just landed to the ground and on the way home there was a brisk headwind. Felt like home never came but it did eventually, after having had multiple short walks to keep my toes from freezing!
6 mile run, -4 air temp, -25 windchill. 3 miles out into a horribly knife like wind and 3 miles being pushed along and actually sweating going home. Awesome Base Training!
Last week, did a 50km ride in the snow and -5F.
My coldest run this year is probably about 56 on the treadmill in the morning before work one day. Hey, I live in SoCal. :)
Coldest day has not happened yet. I’m traveling like you do for work. But this time will be in siberia in week 8. I’m really not looking forward. At least i will have a good excuse to go running, otherwise i’ll dye freezing. If you’re around Moscow on we7 let me know.
My run with a friend during winter break in Boston… It was 10 F outside with windchills going down to about -5 F along the river. Sadly, I haven’t been brave enough to run outside much at school, located in the Chicago-land with polar vortexes and badly plowed sidewalks.
The coldest run I have had here in Southern California was 33F. One of the few days I actually couldn’t run in shorts..
Evevning run (8 miles) when it was 5 out (-6 with wind chill)…Took about 15 minutes when I got back to be able to untie my shoes
It’s been consistently cold in Ottawa (Canada) this winter. Regular runs in -30F. Well okay, not that regular. Ended up buying a trainer. Still going outside enjoying skating on the backyard rink!
+3. Lake Como. Snow-raining. 650mt for a first barefoot run. I’m afraid I won’t win the tough man prize, am I? :) Cool to see, almost real time, how many people from everywhere are reading your blog. Cheers
10 mile run in 34 deg (29 with wind chill) in New Orleans a few weeks ago.
My coldest ride was when I was first starting riding and I was out on my own (cause I didn’t want anyone else to know how bad I was) in the cold, rain and wind. The water stung my eyes cause I didn’t have glasses on. When I finally got home I remember thinking this will make me stronger!
None this winter given London has yet to see any negative temperatures! But it’s certainly been windy. Runs have been based on avoiding upturned trees and temporarily formed lakes!
Turkey day 5k was 27 degrees and windy!
Went out for a run at 3°F with a windchill around -15°F. Made it 1/2 mile before turning around and heading for the indoor track at the college where I work at.
My coldest run this winter was an easy 6 mile run on a not too cold January 25 in Colorado (about 25 degrees)
-1 C in western Norway. Not bad at 60 degrees north, but it is very windy here!
I did 5,75 km during my lunch-break @ -3 degrees C, today.
I’m new to the triathlon sport (as in I haven’t done one yet), but I’m diving right in and signed up for a HIM in July. Thus far it has been a very bad winter to kick off my training! I live in central Ohio where, like most of the country, we say -40*F wind chills as of late. Not fun. However, I’ve been reading a lot about “mental training” and decided what better day to train the brain! I went out in the evening so I must be honest I believe it wasn’t quite that cold, but you couldn’t have told me that while I was out there. It was only a couple weeks ago I went for that cold, windy, dark run. I finished with an iced over jacket, hat, and tights. (I’ve never seen ice on my tights before but it was accumulating on my quads where I had somehow sweat to). The worst part of it all was in picking up swimming more and more I decided to shave my beard, and my face had never felt so cold before. Maybe the mustache has protected me before, but I literally had icicles accumulating on my nose hairs! (Maybe I should trim those bad boys up?) I regret the mental training, and I hadn’t been back outside for a run since until yesterday, but at least I can say I went out in it!
Took my coonhound out for a quick 3 miles last week in Philadelphia. He only made it 2. It was -6F with the wind chill and the sidewalks were still covered with snow and ice. I need to get the poor little guy some booties!
I ran a half marathon in December. It was 6 at the start with a wind chill below 0. The frozen sweat on my clothing and the slushees at the water stops were new to me!
Liivng History Farms 7 mile off road race in Des Moines, IA. Starting temp was 13 degrees and required crossing a stream twice in thigh-high sub-freezing, but still very much liquid, water about mid-way through the race. Warm beef stew at the finish made up for it, kinda.
I live in the deserts in Southern California, the coldest I’ve been this winter was a 50F mountain bike ride with ~10mph wind. Arm warmers and a vest were the most i needed! I feel like a wimp reading the other comments! Work brought me here to CA though, I’m not complaining this winter!
After a 50 minute run, I had a lovely ice beard. How cold (and cool ;) is that??!!
Nor Cal winter has been dry and warm, for better or worse. Haven’t worn tights all winter but did run with a light jaecket and gloves back in November.
That would have to be the run back up to the house after giving the horses hay when it was -5°F.
I watch the weather closely to try to avoid the extreme cold here in Minneapolis. So the coldest run this winter for me was 0F with a -16F windchill, a few days before Christmas. Love your reviews! Bought a Garmin 620 through Clever Training based on your review. Thanks!
After a 50 minute run, I had a lovely ice beard. How cold (and cool ;) is that??!!
I had a snow/ice run this week. Temp was 6 with wind chill below zero. And I’m in Alabama! That doesn’t happen too often.
My coldest run was on the warmest day we had had in DC in a while – probably about 30 degrees.
Never thought it would run on a treadmill. This winter I run 5 minutes to the gym and then 5 minutes back.
-5 C, few days ago…
0 F and about -15 F with the windchill here in central MN.
Ran on the treadmill 14 miles because the windchill was -20. No thanks.
14 miles on treadmill since windchill was -20. Absolutely mind numbing.
My coldest run this winter was between Christmas and new year eve, it was -25C so -20F i think!
Swimming in a pool with a perpetual leak that was being continuously filled with New England well water, took about 4 hours to warm up again
I went for a run the day after it snowed here in NYC. Below freezing and silent in Prospect Park. Had to dress like a ninja but worth it.
I live in florida, so for me it was a 5 am run with 51 degree weather.
Snow run! Not terribly cold compared to some numbers thrown around here, only 0 deg C :)
Living in the suburbs of Vancouver BC, we haven’t experienced the extreme cold like the rest of the continent, so my coldest run so far only required a light running jacket, gloves, and a toque. Still wore shorts, and short running socks. Maybe around -2 C
Coldest swim ever would be a very brief dip in Magdalena Fjord in the Svalbard islands far into the arctic circle off the yacht we were sailing there. No idea how cold it was but there was plenty of ice floating around us! I think it was also technically in the middle of the night, but due to the 24hour daylight and being in ‘watches’ that didn’t make much difference!
Can whoever wins (hopefully me obviously) hold the credit until Garmin bring out a 910 replacement?!
-20F windchill. Hands aching in my big Swix gloves. Snot-cicles everywhere.
Early morning 10 degree run during January Artic Blast here it Connecticut.
I was at a 5k race about two weeks ago which ended up being on a course that was completely covered in snow. To make matters worse the road was dirt/gravel and full of giant pot holes. To top it off the temperature was just north of 0 F.
Coldest run was 2F. It has been a cold winter in Northeastern Ohio. In the fall though, the last triathlon I did had a start temperature of 46F. That was a cold swim and an even colder bike. I didn’t really pack enough warm cycling gear (only my one piece tri suit) for that temperature and wetness.
~30 degree F run in a light rain/snowstorm 2 weekends ago. I’ve been avoiding the recent cold temps in Boston (in the teens with windchill in the single or negative temps) by riding my trainer inside.
I pretty much wimp out when the temperatures dip into the 30’s. But I did the Hot Chocolate 5K in Atlanta last weekend and I was colder after the run that before and during it. It was probably in the 30’s.
Oddly enough my coldest race was in California… The CIM was not only at freezing, but I had to stand around for hours totally unprepared.. I think it took half the race to warm up!
Ran in a windy 8F for 26 miles last weekend around the perimeter of DC. Garmin stopped working. iPhone wouldn’t power on. It was a blast…of cold.
Coldest so far was about 5*. Not the coldest here, but definitely too cold for me.
5k criterium race to support the homeless shelter in my area. Started the registration off with no wind then, it decided to pick up to 15-20 mph winds with the temperature sitting right around 20F. Ended up wearing my 6″ running shorts, quick dry shirt with arm sleeves. Was a plenty cold morning to race, took a long while to warm up afterwards!
Hasn’t really been very cold this winter so far. Still waiting for the cold, but still cycling and swimming inside anyway
-30Celcius here in Calgary ain’t no exception so I just suck it up sometimes. This particular time it just got really windy on top of it… just GREAT!
I expected colder runs in the comments. My coldest run was about 22F back in november in Reston, VA, with the right gear is not a problem and I also noticed that I run faster, specially on the first mile
I was on business in St. Louis and only thought to pack shorts and a long sleeve running shirt. Without looking at the weather just started my run, I thought it was cold but not too bad. When I got back I checked the weather and it was 18 degrees F. Guess I should have just used the treadmill.
93 mile ride starting at 6AM in the dark and 20*F weather of North Alabama. Demolished a buffet dinner 7 hrs later.
Almost embarrassed to post this reading through everyone’s comments that demonstrate their Winter fortitude, but…
Here in Connecticut I’ve been training indoors and avoiding the “Arctic vortex”… Yesterday however, I jogged outside with my new Garmin 620 (due 100% to this website) and it was a balmy 38°.
Surely not the coldest among those posted, but yesterday’s 600s track workout had me frozen all day. 28 degree air temp, 10 degree wind chill with gusting winds. Big suck.
Thursday interval run just felt so cold at zero degrees celsius cause i was tired en likely underdressed.
Welp, not using much common sense, I went on a 30 mile bike ride in 4 degree (20mph wind…something like 15 below all said and done). I had on multiple hats, a balaclava, every undershirt and windproof jacket I own, a snowboard helmet and ski goggles. I still managed to sweat although my toes took a long time to recover. But it was beautiful and without snow. My wife wasn’t happy with my decision :(.
Totally worth it.
A run during the first polar vortex in Minnesota. It was about -15F air temp, with a wind chill. I wasn’t out too long, but it hurt anyway.
Here is my coldest ;)
link to connect.garmin.com
I did a ride in blizzard-like conditions on some singletrack. It was about 15°F out, but the 30mph sustained wind and the snow made it an interesting ride to say the least.
24 January; 10 Degr. F; Glasses fogging, the fresh snow squeaking underfoot, and I was glad to have lots of layers.. 15 weeks until the marathon.
Went for an early evening run with temps below 40 degrees. Snow on the lawns, clear streets – only thing to make it more beautiful would have been 60 degree weather!
Run in -10 C tonight, with a strong wind, should have taken better gloves…