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!
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:
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 DesFit, 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.
4
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!
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 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.
1800 mts. Swimming (if i get to the other side of the pool in the 500 mts.) and Sunday, 50 K of cycling, but in the colombian mountains ;)
Easy 3 mile Friday. Jacksonville Florida Gate River 15k run Saturday. Yoga on Sunday.
Tonight: 60 minute spin bike ~26 miles
Saturday: 2000 yds swimming; 30 minutes spin bike ~12 miles
Sunday: Innertube Water Polo, aka recovering from St Patrick’s Day Party on Saturday night.
Friday – Easy 5 mile recovery run
Saturday – 7 mile tempo run
Sunday – Easy Long Run (10-13)
Walking around….not any strict workouts
Saturday: early morning swim then a 8km run with the other half
Sunday: 100km club ride!
12 mile run this weekend, most likely Saturday.
Saturday:
a 3 hours bike ride with a couple of AT sessions at about 10k.
2 km run to the Gym as a warm – up and then 1 hour session with some legs/Shoulders and core training.
5 km run after the gym
Sunday
3,5-4 hours bike ride with our local club. Nice rolling two by two at a average 30k/h
Running the NYC 1/2 Marathon on sunday
2k swim tonight, tomorrow a 100k bike ride (with some of the famous cobblestones from the Tour The Flanders), and sunday another 3k swim.
Saturday, 4 km swim, 2 hour spin session, 30 Min run
Sunday is 29 km LSD run
Food and sleep to follow.
Go for ride 20 km then sit up push up
An hours run on Saturday, a 14 mile Time Trial on Sunday morning and a swim on Sunday night. Tired just thinking about it!
I plan on putting up my middle finger up and directing it to this winter that just won’t end! If that doesn’t pan out I’m going to put log an easy 10 k run on Saturday and a 26 k long run on Sunday.
Cirque da Solei 5K run on Saturday and then a open water swim at Lake Mead on Sunday.
Saturday – 2 hour hill ride on the computrainer on my amazing new felt TT bike!
Sunday – Swim practice with my tri team and maybe a run after :)
Saturday : 90Km ride + 45 min run
Sunday : 2h ride
Rest day saturday
200 km road cycling on sunday (Longjumeau 2014, event near Paris)
The weather is warming up in Boston this weekend so a nice 2-3 mile run on Saturday and the same on Sunday
Tomorrow skiing with kids and Sunday NYC half with approx 37,000 friends.
10 mile training run to get ready for half marathon in early April. Then go home and mow the yard. yay me.
12 km tomorrow and 25 km on Sunday – getting ready for Lodz Marathon (13th April) :))) If only the weather forecast wasn’t rain+snow the whole weekend… Oh well – I’m still going :)
Saturday: 50-70km on the bike, mostly intervals
Sunday: 100km on the bike
25k trail race in Costa Rica: Cascajal de Coronado link to facebook.com
Half Marathon :-)
TCT Field test. Need to set up my training plan for my first 70.3 race.
A 10k run on Saturday, and a 5-mile trail run on Sunday.
I’m deployed so I dont have a ton of free time, so its usually lots of intervals:
Friday- I did Andy Potts’ great workout from Monday- Bike WU with a 30′ build, and MS: 5 x YES. Five times…(10′ @ Half IM pace, 5′ @ OD pace, 4 x 1 ‘ flip flops: (1′ @ IM and 1′ @ all out) then 2′ EZ. then 15′ easy run.
Saturday- Brick+intervals. 15′ WU. 90% power for 10′ f/b 10×2′ @ 105% power on 30″ EZ. 10′ @ 90% power. 30’ tempo run. Repeat and bump up power by 5.
Sunday-LSD run…on a treadmill. 2 hours. It’s all I got righ now. meh.
For sat morning: technical cross-country training
Sat afternoon: long training ride (cycling)
Sun morning: technical swim
Sun afternoon, depending on the energy level, a nice short run!
Happy weekend!
40 minute spinning on Friday night; 3 hour hilly endurance ride on Saturday (gonna be a nice day in DC); 2 hour endurance ride in zone 2 on Sunday. It’s going to be a great weekend!
Saturday 80 Group Ride
Sunday Im thinking solo hills ride with a bricked run afterwards
Saturday 1 Hour of intervals on the kickr.
Sunday 3 hours of endurance riding outside.
Finishing up training for the Paris marathon in a few weeks
10km run Friday
25km trail run Saturday
25km trail run Sunday
Monday rest
Saturday 7k interval training –
Sunday easy run 3k
Gonna be a slow weekend. Will be taking the dogs out for a 3-4 mile run on Friday, and a Sunday evening short run.
A repeat of this ride courtesy of my GARMIN 800 & 910 from CLEVER TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
link to connect.garmin.com
Hope to do about 3-5mile run tomorrow evening, than so long as the whether holds here in TN, go for a 20 or so mile bike ride, do some mountain climbs in preparation of Three State Three Mountain challenge may 2!
A nice 4 mile run on Saturday followed by a day of relaxation on Sunday in preparation for St. Patrick’s Day
easy steady 10k tomorrow, and 21k trail running monday
Tonight Tri club swim session, Tommorow strava challenge 100 miles in the brecon beacons; Sunday 10km run hopefully in some nice weather.
Sat: Bike 20 mile + 6.2 mile run
Sun: Bike 60 mile
Rest day Saturday and a Mountain bike ride (cross training/fun) on Sunday.
3 weeks until the south beach triathlon, so i’ll be doing a 30/30/30 (minutes, that is) swim/bike/run on saturday, then a 2 hour bike ride followed by an hour run on sunday.
Sat: Turbo trainer and run. And the rugby on the telly!
Sun: Gym.
Mon: Enjoy the day off. Love bank holiday weekends! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
A short, intense run on Saturday and a long ride on Sunday (hopefully in the sun). If I’m lucky, I may get a swim in as well.
Sat- 8 mile run
Sun- 10k XC ski picnic with kids and wife
Friday: 25mile hilly bike
Sat: work 12hrs, the 45min 1mile track repeats
Sun: work 12hrs, rest, get ready for Mon + Tues long bike days.
Sat: ~40mi bike ride through the hills of Laytonsville and Mt. Airy, MD + 15 min run, and the most important… Walk the dog :)
Sun: 9 mi run in the AM and master’s swim practice in the PM. +More walking of the dog!
Mon: REST!!
10 mile run on Saturday to get ready for a 1/2 marathon March 30th.
Hill sprints at Buttes Chaumont tomorrow morning, a long, long run on Sunday, hopefully all still in the Paris Spring sunshine!
A bike ride on Saturday and a run on Sunday.
Shamrock Run 5K (costume!) and 60 min swim tomorrow….3 hour bike ride Sunday (hoping outside weather permitting!)
Sat- 7 mile progression run
Sun- 2hr ride with 4 intervals included
I’m running the Sarasota half marathon with my mom.
At least an hour on the trainer in front of a training video (or maybe a YouTube video of Tour of Flanders or something along those lines).
Short run Saturday and 18 mile with 14 at marathon pace run Sunday
Saturday: 15 mile trail run AND measuring a 5k course for a race I’m directing this Summer.
Sunday: 15 mile trail run again… Love weekend doubles! 30+ miles for this weekend as training for an upcoming 50 (which I totally need some new gear for!). Cool giveaway!
Easy ride tomorrow with friends, then a nice long 3-4hr ride with the club on Sunday.
P90X – Core Synergistics on Saturday
60 min bike on Sunday
More for fun than for a workout but skiing at Seven Springs in PA.
Long bike ride Sunday if the weather allows it, treadmill long run otherwise. Long walk Saturday at a comic book convention, too, that counts for burnt calories doesn’t it?
Great! I’m in Trysil, Norway and next 3 days, no next 6 days, are booked only for alpine skiing…
Fri: Swim tonight
Sat: 1.5 hr spin session
Sun: 29 km long run
Bike up to Mt. Tam and back from SF tomorrow! Then skiing in Tahoe! Best of both worlds.
20 mile around town today, easy 5-6 mile job tomorrow, 100-110 mile ride sunday
10 mile mountain bike ride Saturday. 15 mile long run Sunday.
Rock N Roll USA Half Marathon: Washington, DC. Then back to Triathlon training Monday morning!
Hi Ray, I’m gonna resume my long runs, after a long period recovering from a sprained foot and ensuing shorter runs… The aim is to start doing half marathons next year (vice the current 10-km).
Cheers,
Luis
Saturday – long run – 21km
Sunday – long recovery ride – 60km+
I have to recover from an injured-knee, so it will be a soft training with mountain bike and some swimming pool. Running forbidden for at least two weeks! :(
4K swim & 100K trainer ride on Saturday, then 27K run on Sunday :D
Easy 5 miles on Saturday then pre-Boston Tobacco Road half marathon fitness test on Sunday with an easy 8 split 2 before, 6 after.
5K Saturday, long muddy trail walks with dog both days.
Long workout, 30 km in preparation for the marathon.
A police qualification test (obstacle course) tomorrow morning then a 6 mile run. Sunday lap swim.
Saturday: 20mile bike
Sunday: Morning Yoga , maybe a 6mile easy run.
Winding down the training hard training and heading into Ironman Los Cabos (2 weeks!). This weekend has a 4 hour bike / 1 hour run brick on tap Saturday followed up with a 2 hour run on Sunday.
Saturday 7 mile run, Sunday hour on the bike trainer.
sat: 7k run easy followed by 90min swim easy with some drills
Sun: 60min on a trainer, WU25 min and then 7×1.5 in z5
Not enough sports (14km of running on sunday). I have to study and work
An hour’s easy run on Saturday and a easy 80km bike ride on Sunday.
in the middle of insanity workout, thought i’d mix my normal routine up a little bit! so it’s insane workout on Saturday and rest day on sunday
Hi Ray
preparing for my 1st half-marathon
Sat: 40 min easy pace + short intervals (4 x 1 min)
Sun: 90 min easy pace
Still cold and snowy in Michigan. Friday night – 1.5 hours on the bike trainer, 5×30 sec sprints. Saturday – half hour swim, 4×200 meter sprints; Run 20 min indoors. Sunday – brick: 45 min bike (trainer), 45 min run depending on foot injury.
I plan to get in a mountain ride on Saturday morning, coach my daughter’s soccer team, and go for another ride with the family on Sunday. :)
Sat: 20-30 min run and practice transition for race on Sunday
Sunday: Race Super Seal Olympic Distance
Monday:rest or easy run
Half marathon on Sunday, and for tomorrow I’ll have some easy 5k.
Short run on Saturday and a long bike ride on Sunday
Squash on Saturday and if muscle pain and weather allow it a nice long run on Sunday. Would prefer temperatures in the +Celsius region and no snow/rain though.
Alternatively: 90 min gym on Sunday.
70-80 mile road ride to include the 35 mile Saturday team hammerfest.
6 mile trail run
1.15 km swim on Sat!!!
I hope I win and before my pre-order of the fenix 2 goes out!!
I’m running my first marathon on Sunday!
No work out, but 12 km race in Antwerp.:-)
Saturday 5 mile run followed by 40 miles on the bike
Sunday run 10-12 outside hopefully.
Hi
Saturday 25k in marathon pace
Sunday interval 10 x (800_200m)
Saturday – 2.5 hour ride
Sunday – 10 mile run
Still nursing a hamstring injury, so on Saturday I will cross-train with an HiiT ellliptical workout, and on Sunday I plan to venture into the nearby hilly beautiful fausses reposes forest for some speed-walking hill work. If no pain, I should be able to run again in another week! #fingerscrossed #missing running
Some hill training, which is going to be difficult in Holland ;)
A 15 km run with big spotters hill as the hill.
Running the Rock N’ Roll DC Marathon on Saturday. This will be my first full marathon and I am excited to run around DC and see all the monuments.