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.
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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.
traveled from mexico to north east and watched a lot of tv while recovering.
I wanted to go for two runs on Saturday, you know, one in the morning and the other one in the evening. However I go for “morning” run at 11:45AM, got back at 1:15PM and I was like:”Oh, maan I can’t do the second run today.” .. but I made some rice and ate some chocolate too, then I chilled for a while and when it was almost 7PM I told myself I would like to try. I can stop whenever I want to. Well, I ran 6 km and also did my personal best for 5 km. And still, it has been three days since this happened and I still can’t believe it! Not a big adventure but made me feel amazing!
Awesome riding on a sunny day through the hills in Marin…nothing beats them for training. Getting ready for the second race of the season!
Ran Boston Marathon.
I ran through my favorite road that closes on Saturdays for runners…. only to find that it was under construction and instead I had to (got to?) run through the woods!
I raced up North this weekend. The weather was way colder than expected.
Participated to the “famous” Hageland Classic – 150km of narrow roads, a lot of turns and small but steep climbs … de Ronde Van Vlaanderen – mini edition
Nice MTB ride on some forest!
a ‘training’ quarter triathlon race for this weekend because in less than 3 weeks my half is coming!!!
Completed Alpe du Zwift challenge in Strava!
51 miles on the bike with lots of hills. 4,100 feet of elevation gain. 6 mile run.
I was busy this last weekend, so I had to settle for a 2 hour trainerroad workout, but this coming weekend race season starts for me with a local sprint triathlon!
37 mile charity ride and 30 min brick run Saturday, then cadence intervals on the trainer, swim and legs day Sunday!
My athletic adventure wasn’t athletic: I installed a Watteam Powerbeat power meter reviewed by you and purchased from Clever Training with your discount!
Finally getting some warmer weather here, in Boston, on Saturday I rode to an early morning step class followed by a 30 mile ride thru the Fells and Mystic Lakes including a ride up Horn Pond Mt. (a steep but little hill). But Sunday was back to Snow!
Park Run! PB for the year despite the mud and hills
Completed a ride out near Tallassee AL and enojyed bits of the countryside, then followed up on Sunday with a run in a new neighborhood. Working on (eventually) running all the streets in my city and checking my progress using Strava’s heatmap functionality. It will take awhile.
first bicycle ride of the year with my 1y old girl in the backseat along a canal, mimicking lot’s of animal sounds
Just a short workout but if was fun and sunny !
Trail ride to Satua in the western Chobe Enclave, Botswana- rode with elephants and water buffalo, great ride 85kms of fun. Some tensions with the game, beautiful grass lands with palm trees and flood water raising.
Fished for Shad and did a tune-up run.
This Sunday I did my first round Trip around the Lake of Zürich. Loved it!
Went swimming with my two girls indoors as weather in west of Ireland ain’t tropical just yet.
Put on ambit 3 run on in the loop de loop waterside.
Awesomeness #newsegment
First road bike race of the season after moving to a new city (which just recently thawed).
cycled through the the hills of N. Carolina
Had a nice warm sunny bike ride Friday night followed by a complete rain out on Saturday. Well hello stinky trainer I’d love to replace. ?Coached a Spin class on Sunday.
Still snow snow snow out here in Canada.
Zwifing, treadmill and swimming everyday.
Running after too many wines on the night before on Saturday morning!
Was supposed to complete the Boston Marathon midnight bike ride. To cold, wet and windy so not done. Went to expo that day instead.
low rpm ride on the trainer, broken 200s in the pool, and an aerobic run. of course my indoor workouts (bike/swim) were on the beautiful day and my outdoor run was on a much less than beautiful day.
I ran 13.3km easy. The weather was perfect, aside from that I cooled off in 16c seas which meant my last day of holiday was heavenly.
Laid up by injury. :( But thanks for the chance to win and thus to buy a cool goodie for when I’m back at it!
A day of running and work. The office is empty on weekends, so I don’t have to bring a change of clothes. I can split my run into 2 commutes and one break. Pretty fun!
I did 40 miles uphill with headwind (ok 20 miles)… the last 20 were fun!
Rode in The Ride to End Leukemia & Lymphoma metric bike ride
I had a simple long run on saturday. Wonderful!
Attempted to coach 2 baseball games, but instead got 2 rainouts. So I hit up zwift instead.
shoveled 15 inches of snow, in April.
Awesome bike ride with the wife to get ice cream and play lawn games.
Sunburnt on the first sunny ride here in DC. Followed the next day by a run along the canal in the wind and rain. WHERE ARE YOU SPRING?!
Squezeed out the last of the cross country skiiing-season before the spring hits hard up here in Sweden!
Went on a nice long run with my wife while pushing the little one in a jogging stroller. After the 9 mile run i was really thinking i should get double miles for pushing the stroller for that long.
I went bike packing/wild camping in the English Lakes: amazing!
Stage 5 of Tour of Watopia.
800 m competion not bed at all
Thanks ray
Did a 10k run and a 20k bike ride
on saturday played tennis
Went for a 10K hilly run sandwiched between two silver wedding anniversary celebrations, complete with too much to eat and too much to drink. Way harder running than it should have been
Crappy weather here over the weekend, so it was indoor stuff for me :)
I did some easy bike ride and run to prepare for the kiev half marathon on sunday
Meant to do a 100 km on a bicycle, but managed just 97 km. It was still nice though.
Weather was finally nice here in southern Spain,so the wife and I took the dogs for a trail run.
Final getting some dirt miles in on the Mountian bike.
2 hour easy run on saturday, 4 hour not so easy bike on Sunday followed by another 45min run!
A 6 km run along the local river – kind of a big deal, first time in 2 years after knee surgery.
6 and a half hours of sports on Sunday: Starting with a 1,5-h-run in the morning, 2 hours Formula 1 on TV on 8 a.m. and after lunch a three-hours ride on the bike. Pretty nice!
Since I got a new foot pod I did two calibration runs in a stadium on Saturday. Each 2k one high pace; one regular long distance pace. On Sunday i did 60min of interval training to check if instant pace worked better than via GPS. Spoiler Alert: it does.
Rode 60 miles through Skull Valley in AZ with an awesome elivation gain of 3000 feet. Freezing temperatures and a beautiful campfire to combat it for recovery after! Can’t leave out the s’mores:)
Discovering the tiny, crowded streets of Cannes by rental bike whilst working there for the Red Bull Air Race.
got to go running through some nice farm country! Saw some cows and chickens and avocados!
Using the Fenix 3 to navigate around the woods in Holland. (Not needed, but fun).
I installed two toilets. Not very athletic but certainly heroic!!
Also rode a really tough Xert workout on my Cycleops Hammer, I guess that counts as athletic.
Can I have my gadget now?
Training for a 10k run. Would like to buy a Garmin watch with Garmin Pay ?
Did a brick training for a comming sprint duathlon in may; with a new speed PR on the 20K bike part.
A 10k run and a nice walk on the beach in french Brittany.
Finally got the road bike out for an hour in the countryside :)
x
I had a working shift all weekend, but noted some racing events, like city marathon, when plenty of people passed by my window… I couldn’t resist, I went for a short run on SUN…
Rode a 123km Audax up some big hills!
Ran a 5k and did lots of yoga
Ran a very little footing, 5 months after my left foot surgery… Back training :-)
Training for a fat man 5K. 70% of the way back to fitness!
Hi!
90km cycling =)
//Niklas
Took a stroll through town to look at some old buildings.
Rode from downtown Atlanta out into the burbs to see my friends doing the Ragnar relay then i rode back. Yeah
Sat at home waiting to be called to work, and then a quick road bike ride which for some reason ended with much carrying of the bike through snow.
Ran my first 10k on Sunday. This is the longest run I have ever done, but I’m on my way to marathon number one towards the end of the year!
I completed the Goat Hill 50Km trail race in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, USA. 6+ hours of fun in the sun (much nicer weather than the runners experienced in Boston on Patriots Day).
Running with the kids.
Felt a little under the weather, so I went for a walk with the wife.
last long run before this weekend RunDisney: Star Wars – The Dark Side HM!
Did a 10km run at the first warm and sunny weekend this year in the Rhineland :-)
Alpe Du Zwift
An intense weekend of watching the start of the NBA finals, challenging given the time difference to the UK for live games!
After 10 years of run/walk/run, did my first “all run” long run – 5 miles! What I lack in speed, I make up for with stubborn.
Half on sunday
Will be doing my last big training ride before the century. A PM could be interesting for determining that “all-day” pace.
I worked my job at LRS shop. Climbed lots of ladders to help customers find the right running shoes. Good cardio!
Cycled Friday & Saturday, mountain to valley, all of it downhill!
Just run some Marathon. Not so clever while it was about 30 Celsious degrees (and trainings were done in 0-5 average)
first 10k forest run after the Paris marathon. Forest in spring is The perfect place for running.
I ran in Atlanta while I was in town for a conference!
Duathlon practice in the sunny Algarve, 1:09 :)
Went on a cold, wet and eventually snowy hike on the Greenway Trail in Southern Canada. It lasted one hour and I almost froze to death. The rest of the weekend was spend Zwifting.
Rode 100km with a buddy
Finally got back to putting weight on my ankle post surgery this weekend. My athletic adventure was walking around the house and the grocery store in my boot.
Hitting the trails on top of Zürich
Longest ride of the year and two PR’s on the tough climbs. Happy with that
A saturday run and a sunday swim. Sunday swim left me prepared to watch Amstel Gold:-)
Went for a 2 hour run in the beautiful sun while my son was on a junior triathlon skills camp.