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.
The Brooklyn Half!
Weight-lifting… in that I spent the weekend repeated lifting and lowering the increasing weight that is my 1-month old boy!
Went for Hash run in the blazing heat on Saturday.
Quick spin on the bike in the sunshine
Testrun and swim training
Swim, run then run again!
Bike /run brick for upcoming duathlon if it doesn’t rain.
Running on the lake trail in Austin, Texas!
Just some endurance training in preparation of a 12 hour race.
Watching Madrid winning his 33th league
I did the Tour de Madison on Saturday and rode/run in DC on Sunday!
Away watching football for the weekend so got to make up for it with a long run on Monday!
Orienteering every weekend
Zip lining, running and road biking
40 mile mountain bike ride to Rivington Pike
Copped a nice running lesson on the weekend
I ran with a friend of mine who is a three-time Iron Man… needless to say I was given a running lesson… prior to him doing 1/2 marathon with me he decided to do a 70Km bike ride and he still thrashed the shit out of me… ?
Open water swimming and a couple great runs!
Long run this morning and a 5K yesterday pushing a rider-athlete for Ainsley’s Angels.
85 km road bike ride.
I had my first triathlon of the year on sunday. Was a half distance and I managed to decrease my time with 8 minutes compared to last year!
Invaded Switzerland on a bike from Italy where they least expect an attack to come from
I rode a 33 mile charity event on Saturyda – Windy, cold, and hilly. Had a blast. Today, Sunday, I ran in a 1/2 marathon relay event – windy, cold, and flat. Had another blast!
Ready for warm weather.
2x long bike rides 100 km and 145 km
Chilled pedal in the uk sun.
Friday Lunch Run, a Short 5Km between the Rain Drops. Saturday roadbike 66Km in the afternoon Sun….Today Setup the 7000l Pool for the Kids and then walked 10km with the wife (5km into town, ate Dinner, then 5km Home) at a rather slow regenerative pace.
Now achived Zombie Status in Front Office the TV Reading your Blog.
Running and Yoga are my weekend adventures. Tomorrow is the official start of Ironman training. New or additional technology would go a long way in training.
Long run long bike , prep for Challenge Roth
Night run in home town.
I’ll race a half marathon in beautiful Białowieża national park
Relaxing weekend at home. Nothing planned.
Rowing the 210km 11-cities tour in the Netherlands.
was wrong e-mail address, use the one from this post
Waiting for a strained intercostal to recover ?
And staining garden furniture…
Club swim session on Saturday, moved up to the fast lane but quickly moved back down after warm up!
Daddy and daughter dance show Sunday, not very athletic for me, but was for her. Then 8mile progressive run before bed for me!
First run with my girlfriend after a long period of illness. 5km but feelling like after a marathon :-)
M2V Israel is just over (220 km mountain to valley run)
So this weekend is ease running for me
A 10km run!
Trail running, 22km.
Went on a hike and attended and Eagle Festival yesterday, then got up at 3:30am to volunteer at a race and then cheer half marathoners up the second mega hill on the course.
120km ride in the rain!
Heading out into the Manistee National Forrest for some running and mountain biking!
I run a half marathon as preparation for my first half ironman in june
We had a beautiful weekend here in Massachusetts. We are lucky enough to live on a lake. So this weekend was the years first run around the lake followed by some time kayaking. Not a bad way to spend a day!!
I checked out Wanderlust which combined 5k and an hour of yoga. I’ve never done yoga but a girl was involved so I thought why not.
Mountain bike if rain holds off.
Running, Running, more running!
A nice 60km road biking complemented with a 20km MTB and 2000m swimming – fantastic ?
Did a nice 1.5 hour mountain bike ride with my wife yesterday at Duthie Hill near Seattle.
I’ll be coaching and mentoring the NorthStar Development Cycling team on a longer ride in potentially rainy weather!
TT Bike goes into the shop this week so it will be an early swim followed by a Zwift ride on the road bike and a short run in the wind and rain no doubt. Sunday is a long run at Te Henga reserve (Bethels beach) Auckland NZ.
I rode the IM Hamburg bike course. It was awesome
Run the Leiden marathon (and succeeded…3:29)
I’ve been sidelined from riding for a month due to a knee injury, but I’ve got the go ahead to start some light cycling. So, I’ll be doing some rehab cycling!
Long trainer ride. Nap. Long run. Nap
Found out a bit late, but I did the whole set:
run, swim, bike, lawn mowing and watching Giro!
90 minutes on the trainer, 90 minutes on the treadmill. Then a nap.
Completed my favorite obstacle course race, The Battlegrounds. 5 miles and 30+ obstacles
I went hiking this morning and a little boy on the bank of the creek showed us the baby frog he’d “captured.” It was smaller than the tip of his finger! So cute! And, yes, he put it back as soon as he showed us.
Did the first bike/run brick after the flu, need at least to double the distance in less than 8 weeks
Tore knee ligaments. So need a pick me up
Just doing a short ride on the bike, mostly planning to practice lifting the lid on the BBQ :)
Late Saturday night I jogged to the track to run a few laps with a friend in his 24-hour race. Pacers denied. Jogged home.
A conversational 10-miles Sunday morning.
And painting, athletic painting.
Trail running both yesterday and today
Tempo riding, no doubt with a headwind :)
I raced in the Xterra SE Championship at Oak Mountain in Pelham, AL. Josiah Middaugh defended his title and I was way behind him!
Long bike Saturday and FTP test on Monday morning: waiting to get some metal out of my foot before running.
long slow run in the sunshine
Some single track rides in bush.
Medium Run and a Short Ride will probably fit in. If weather were nicer I’d wish for a longer ride :)
My friends and I are going to ride to the coast. In Belgium that’s not really far (83 KMS in our case) but just the feeling of seeing the sea and knowing you reached it by bike (normally we go by car) is awesome.
If my brother and I feel like it we’re going back home by bike too :) Weather report looks very good as well so we’re really looking forward to the ride :)
I’m doing my long in preparation for a June Marathon.
medical volunteer for the Cleveland marathon
Pushing the stroller for 8 miles to get the little kid out and about.
Morgan Hill “Sprint” Triathlon. (Sprint in quotes, because it’s basically an Oly)
Went to Pasadena to check out the finale of the Tour of California and participated in a walk for melanoma research at Universal Studios. A light weekend, but a fun one; and I needed it.
Recovery effort from half marathon training!
Boca Honu workouts: Saturday – 60 mile ride followed by 30 minute run. Sunday 11 mile run followed by 1 hour swim. Then sleep!
Bike racing
I have a long run and long bike as expected from a weekend
Swim Training in the morning and a nice ride in the evening
olympic tri Milan
I raced my second 10K in five days today and this one was 4 min faster than the one on Tuesday
I ran the Racks by the Tracks 10k with my family, and happily watched my kids win first in their age groups.. we didn’t tell them they were the only under 15’s running the race ;)
It’s a recovery week for me after a 50-miler last weekend, but I did get out for a 3-mile run today (first run since the race) to work out some of the rust!
I’ve been working on my singletrack skills. Been practicing bunnyhops, trackstands and other skills to get dirty with!
Busy weekend marshalling at a 5k on Saturday, and banging out a 10k PB on Sunday!
I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon yesterday and swam today.
Ride with the boys topped with a training 21.1k run.
Raced a race.
Rode with friends.
Did Groceries.
Still need to cut grass.
Ran some intervals on Saturday and a long run on Sunday.
Getting ready for the ultratrail in two weeks.
100 miles on the bike, getting back into training following two weeks out due to a running injury and sinus infection!
5K race Saturday morning and recovery run on Sunday
Unfortunately, due to weather and an unruly disk in my bike, I’m down to watching sports from the couch this weekend. Might get to push a lawnmower by tonight.
Back on the trails in another day or two, hopefully.
Been ill this weekend sadly…. back on the mountainbike next weekend!
ran 10 miles yesterday. it was hot and humid.
Sadly this weekend was more of a mental workout given that I was at a conference with no athletic adventure included. Back in the pool on Tuesday!
A mountain bike in the Port Hills, Christchurch NZ before winter sets in.
Fun half marathon coming up. Plan to PR!
50K bike ride and a 10K run. :)
Did a 2hr ride in zone 2 and a 8 mile run in zone 1.
Happy birthday to me! I did a 90 min bike, 20 min run brick on my 35th birthday yesterday and an easy 45 minute run today. I’ll get an 80 minute hill repeat ride in tomorrow before my Tuesday rest.