Heads up! The big Garmin spring sale has started, with $200 off the Fenix 8, $100 off the Edge 1050, Forerunner 965, Forerunner 265, and countless other Garmin products. 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!
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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.
90 minutes TrainerRoad indoor ride on Saturday.
A nice long swim on christmas in the ocean, to receive summer. Here in the south we are having really hot days.
5K run on next Thursday.
Spinervals 16.0 Aero Base Builder 1 which is 80 mins steady on the turbo. Which will be carried out tonight (Friday 5th Dec)
I have a Santa Cycle Rampage ride scheduled for Dec 20!
I will be doing my indoor training session, 1 hour on the trainer watching a movie, it’s time to relax the body after the racing season…but the mind is already focused in the next season!
I plan to do a 35km workout on saturday on my new Tacx Vortex Smart I ordered lately from your recommandations!
Your Giveaway are always appreciated!
Thx!
8 miles around Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Boston
5 mile easy trail run. this is the holiday special carb burning program.
Last race of the season this weekend.
1000swim, 100km bike, 10k run…. Looking forward for 2015 Texas 70.3
In week 9 of Ironman CDA living in Boise, ID and have a 2:30 minute ride on the trainer tomorrow followed by an hour run can’t wait. Thanks DC.
A 6k relay race with my boys. Thanks!!
Tomorrow, 70miles on the bike followed by 4k in the pool.
21k run this Sunday in Toronto. Off-season fun with my running buddies.
More knee rehab, including kettle bell squats and short-arc knee extensions, followed by a session on the elliptical or spin bike. Maybe a short run, too.
Buliding up for the boxing day 10k in Poole Park
Next race is a charity run supporting substance abuse clinic in honor of a family friend who passed from o.d.
I plan to run a slow 10 km tonight.
I am doing a cold, winter 10×10 challenge while trying to raise money to buy a new treadmill starting this afternoon.
Commute to work by bike. 40 mile round trip.
On my way to Xtrails Houffalize: 5, 25 and 50 km trails through mud and snow in 2 days. Can’t wait!
A fartlek run this saturday!
1 hour Swim session tonight – content up to the coach
Training for Georgia death race
Standard Chartered 10km run this weekend in Singapore.
http://www.marathonsingapore.com
I’m doing the “Cursa dels nassos” in Barcelona, a 10 Km Saint Sylvester race on 31 december afternoon.
Nothing special, just trying to stay sane over the long cold winter. Goal workout for the end of the year is to get a 3 mile pool swim in.
Tomorrow, finish setting up the indoor trainer, and complete the FTP test.
Sufferfest videos – twice weekly!
I’m doing mostly indoor training with intervals twice a week with one long ride and run on weekends. Hoping to keep the fitness levels up over the winter!
A four miler with some awful hills this afternoon!
After PB Tri in June, back injury has meant no sport for the last 5 months. Just starting to get back into it – I’m planning my first swim session tommorrow. Going to be nice and easy!
Santa Shuffle 5k (Quebec city) tomorrow !
You have given me a reason to pull the bike out of winter slumber, get it on the trainer and force myself into the cold garage to start pedalling gain, before I forget how to! Can’t wait to choose my prize ;)
Hill intervals on Saturday
2hr easy jog on sunday. Because i will have time ! :-)
Tonight 5. desember. Sufferfest Blender in my brand new torture chamber :D
Brooklyn Holiday Half Marathon.
My xmas Holiday will start in december 22nd. I plan to restar running after my son Birth timeout.
I am going to run about 8-10km looking forward to an half marathon in spring
Santa Hustle Galveston Half Marathon. Why not dress up like Santa and run a half!?
since my ankle is injured cant run so will be doing more trx + bosu training.
2 hours suffering on the trainer… :)
Starting to run again after a month off to allow a shin injury to recover – hope to be doing a Parkrun on Christmas day to celebrate :)
Hains Point 100, at least partially with my daughter, to support getting more women into cycling!
A Measly 12km long run Sunday then back home to watch online my friends do the SunSmart IRONMAN WESTERN AUSTRALIA!
San Silvertre Vallecana, 10km in New Year’s Eve sunset, running from Real Madrid Stadium to Rayo Vallecano Stadium through some of the landmarks of the capital of Spain. Around 40 thousan runners, around half of which disguised in costumes! Real fun!!
Just finished the Johnson Arabia Dubai Creek Striders Half Marathon 2014 today. I did it 40 minutes faster from last year.
Hawkeye 50k in April. 1st ultra
I will do a Christmas Eve “mock tri” that consists of about an olympic distance indoors:
Swim 2000 m
Bike ~ 1:20:00 (don’t trust trainer distances…ever)
Run 10k (treadmill)
One year, I’ll get the cajones to do the swim outdoors, in open water, on Christmas Eve. Until then, I’ll take my 80-degree pool water :-)
Climb some stairs alternate with squat jump for the legs muscles !
I’m gonna do some 3 min intervals on the trainer with 1 min rest in between.
No racing, but hoping to do my first ride with my girlfriend of 2 years. She’s just learning to ride a bike for the first time at 26 years old!
Hey Ray
I am in the middle of my first cyclocross season. My 11th race of the season will be this Saturday in Copperas Cove Texas. This will be a 30 min race as I am entered into the cat 4/5 race. I have a goal set for a top 15 finish and feel I have an excellent chance to achieve that goal. Thanks for all the great product reviews and supporting a company like Clever Training that has outstanding customer service.
Thanks
Danny
This Sunday I have the Illinois state cyclocross championship race. The course is always one of the best all year, can’t wait!
Today I will run an hour, bike an hour, and lift weights for 15 minutes :D
Lots of interval training on the dreaded treadmill. Is it Spring yet?
Santa to Sea 5K in a week. This will be only my second timed 5K. Total elevation change, 11 feet. Here’s to hoping for a PR.
Every Tuesday evening I go exploring the city of Manchester on a 10k run with my training partner. So my next scheduled workout is Tuesday. But I’ll be doing a short 5k at some point over the weekend. I’m done with events for this year.
To run in and out of work every day for a week before year end!
Heading to the pool to do this one from SwimSmooth: 15×100 with 10sec recovery, at my recently discovered critical swim speed. Plus some warm up and cool down.
trying to get back into tris next season after nearly 3 years off since having kids! No races between now and the end of the year, but base bike and runs to build a foundation before spring.
A trail race outside of Rochester, NY called WTF (Winter Trail Festival) put on by an amazing organization, TrailsROC.
I’ve got a long run on Sunday to prep for the Cheaha 50k in February. This is an important run since I’ve been technically training since like the end of October and I’ve yet to run farther than 8 miles. I keep using “family time” as an excuse.
For some, this would be a valid excuse, but I’m a teacher and have the same exact schedule as my wife and children. I spend PLENTY of time with them.
Year end 30 mile club ride this Sunday. Hoping the temps are above 50 but will ride as long as it is above 40.
I’ve got a 5K coming up in two weeks. Either the Big dog jingle 5K or Atlanta Christmas 5K.
About to enter the ballycotton 10 mile (yep mile not km) road-race in west-cork Ireland. only running-race i do all year, but i never miss it.
heading to a chilly Stratford-upon-Avon to train back up over the winter. Many a Christmas run along the river will be done.
“Braver than the Elements” 40-mile bike ride in eastern PA in late December.
This weekend, 1 hr indoor tennis on Saturday. Then a hike on Sunday, not sure how long, a couple weeks ago I did about 7 miles so that’s a rough estimate. Probably a couple insanity workouts tossed in as well ;-)
My Christmas day tradition is to head for the hills and bust out a 2 hour trail run as the sun is rising. Hoping to be able to keep this alive for 2014!
Am trying to recover from pf. So, next week will do an hour swimming on Monday, an hour jogging on Wednesday, 3 x 20min stationary cycling on Fri, and round up with 6 x 1.5km on Saturday.
Doing the A Christmas Story 10K in Cleveland this Saturday
Headed out for a short 5mile beach run today then monday doing an 11 mile run to prep for 1/2 marathon coming up semi-soon.
A 25mile of road (Very muddy) Santa race.
My first XC skiing workout of the season, this sunday! 1h-1h30 at a slow pace just to get the feeling back!
Will be completing a 68km cycle ride tomorrow and Saturday 13th December along Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland
Chip dips (about 1000 sets)
100 mile New Years Eve(during the day) ride with 5k feet of climbing
Sunday 6-miler with friends. We’ll go even if it’s ridiculously cold!
2 hour sufferfest ISLAGIATT, with Perfpro software in the basement with 15 others….hot, sweaty, good!
The inaugural Cottesloe parkrun on 13 December. In Perth, WA (overlooking your old stomping ground, Rottnest Island).
mile repeats (on a treadmill because it’s cold and I’m a wuss)
10-15k With friends in the cold weather + coffee after!
No running or cycling for December, just calisthenics.
We are heading out for a trip round the highlands of Scotland on the Mountain Bikes over the next week, it’s just started to snow in places which should make for more fun..
20mi run tomorrow morning
I’ll be doing a 120 mile bike ride tomorrow (Saturday)
And a 26.2 mile run on the 20th.
Would love to get a 920xt :D
I’ve got the Nittany Valley 1/2 Marathon coming up on Sunday in State College, PA. 5th year in a row!
An hour on the trainer tonight!
…my final long run (23 miles) before Disney Marathon in January!
Celtic Solstice 5 miler
Jingle Bell 5K tomorrow!
Mostly I want to know where you got that ornament from! Way cool.
For my Sunday morning long run, I am going to familiarize myself with the course of a half-marathon that’s coming up in January.
Saint Nicolas 5k run near Prague tomorrow.
Got the Jingle Bell 5k coming up on December 12th.
Illuminations Run on December 21st!!
North Face Endurance Challenge SF 10k on Sunday. Just happen to be in the area – one benefit of traveling for work from the Midwest in winter!
annual Cmas Eve and New Year’s Eve long runs
6 mile run tonite
Spinathon to benefit our local YMCA.