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
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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.
Friday tidbits
Let’s see, what’s been going on in the Rainmaker world… Well, first, I fixed my RSS feed. There was an ‘issue’, resulting from the otherwise massive size of the 310XT review post (68 pages in Word, in case you’re wondering), … Read More Here
Swimming the line
Last week following the Nation’s Triathlon, I stumbled on some pictures on Flickr from the event. There was a huge assortment of pics taken on that day – ones of athletes during each of the sports, a few artistic ones, … Read More Here
Many, many, many miles of Cornfields
When I received my schedule earlier this week for the next few weeks, this little nugget was in the e-mail body: I thought to myself…hmm, what is this ‘Queenstown 120’ he speaks of. I have no such race by that … Read More Here
Garmin Forerunner 310XT In Depth Review
When the Garmin Forerunner 310XT was announced earlier this spring, it represented the next logical evolution from the Garmin 305. It promised many of the features triathletes were looking for, while also promising to still appeal to the single-sport … Read More Here
Nation’s Triathlon 2009 Race Report
As with most any race – the first order of business is packet pickup and usually some form of race briefing. Now, the Nation’s Triathlon also offers a swim practice on Saturday afternoon as well. So, we decided to knock … Read More Here
How aero can you go?
Coach Alan and I were chatting via e-mail about a variety of topics yesterday and he brought up the topic of my aero position, based on one of the pictures from my IMC race report – in particular – this … Read More Here
Combining recovery….with taper
From a scheduling standpoint last year was much easier. Ironman Canada 2008 was on August 24th, and the Nation’s Triathlon 2008 (Oly Distance) was three weeks later on September 14th. While three weeks recovery certainly wasn’t ideal, it seemed to … Read More Here
A weekend of food…
Since late spring when Ironman training pretty much took over any free time I had, my time to good decreased quite a bit. But in this recovery week since IMC, I’ve had a bit of time to get my cook … Read More Here
The week…in pictures
Now that I’m back in DC I figured I’d post a bunch of interesting pictures that didn’t make it into any particular previous post. Above: On the drive up to Penticton at a gas station near the border Below: Medals … Read More Here
Ironman Canada 2009 Race Report
The morning started much like any other race morning. I managed to get about 6-7 hours of sleep, which was a pretty good amount considering everything. So when the alarms went off I was pretty much ready to go. However, … Read More Here
Ironman Canada…return of the Rainmaker
Well, I did indeed finish Ironman Canada yesterday. It was a rough second half of the day. The first half went fairly well, but the run was pretty brutal in the 95*F heat. I PR’d in all three sports (and … Read More Here
Ready to start!
I think I’m all set. Here’s the quick picture tour: I went to the athletes banquet last night: And then the subsequent officials briefing for the rules. After which I walked across the street back to the hotel, but I … Read More Here
Ironman Canada – Underwear Run
Well, technically it’s called the ‘Underpants Run’, but – essentially all the same. For those of you who’ve been around the block a while on this blog, you might remember I stumbled into the back of this last year during … Read More Here
A special message from The Girl
Yesterday after getting home from work, The Girl had a little present all wrapped up for me. After I delicately opened (read: tore open without regard) the carefully wrapped package, I found myself a new t-shirt – designed and imported … Read More Here
The final stretch
With this past weekend in the books, everything ‘long’ is now over. No more long runs, nor long Skyline rides. Though, that didn’t mean things were all strawberries and peaches this past weekend in the workout world. Saturday I had … Read More Here
Friday Tidbits
Without a doubt, the most important item to call out this morning, actually occurred this past Sunday morning. As some of you will remember, my Mom’s been training for her first triathlon this summer. And on Sunday, she officially became … Read More Here
Weekend Part II – Just hanging around
Following a few days of triathlon related goodness in Luray, the Girl and I bailed back up into Shenandoah National Park to our mountainous hideaway for a few days away from it all. We stayed at Skyland (within the park) … Read More Here
Weekend Part I – Luray Triathlon
For all three of you who may have noticed, I haven’t posted since last Thursday (almost a week ago!). That’s been due to a lack of internet, land telephone or even cell phone coverage where I’ve been staying since Friday. … Read More Here
A Power Primer – Cycling with Power 101
If you watched any of the Tour de France this summer, you probably heard the commentators and on screen graphics showing ‘Watts’, and if you went ‘What?” – this this post is for you. As part of laying the groundwork … Read More Here
Soccer, Sockeye, and Sights
Outside the realm of training, the weekend was also full of all sorts of other things. In particular, Sunday was rather busy…here’s a recap. Following a Sunday noon-time 4,100 yard swim, we rushed out the door and off to Fedex … Read More Here
Yogi, more Yogi, and Boo-boo
It’s been quite busy over the last week, with being just on the edge of full taper for Ironman, you think you have more spare time to do other random things than you really do. I think mentally I’m expecting … Read More Here
Night Rider
Most times for my weekly track brick I tend to manage to get to the track in the 4-5PM hour, thus having me finished with my workout some two hours later in the 7PM range. This makes for a semi-normal … Read More Here
The Almost Half-Iron
Just a quick training update (see, I can be quick on occasion). Yesterday I did a nice brick in the mountains, starting from Luray. Luray is a town in the shadow of Skyline drive, where I usually do my long … Read More Here
It’s getting hot in here
The good news is that I didn’t have to run. The bad news is I still had to bike…on the trainer…without a fan…indoors. And thus was the start to my birthday, a nice 65 minute trainer ride on little red … Read More Here
Tour de Seattle
It’s getting hot (in) here…perhaps my new bike shorts has contributed to the record temperatures here in Seattle. Either way, it hasn’t stopped my training. Though this is a recovery week (well timed to a travel week), I’ve been busy … Read More Here
One way ticket
Typically my weekly long ride involves a long out segment…and a long back segment – all on Skyline Drive up in da mountains. However, this week…I’d be purchasing a one-way ticket. Instead of normally turning around at the 50ish mile … Read More Here
75 Seconds to Evaporation
Yesterday’s brick and track workout was a hot one. When we arrived at the school, the little reader board temperature thing said 98*F. Though that felt a bit high, a quick check later on revealed it was instead 90*F with … Read More Here
My Giant Sac
Two weeks ago in the middle of my Rhode Island 70.3 taper I had a bit of spare time on my hands. One night while sitting around watching TV I decided I wanted something a bit more comfortable…so I wandered … Read More Here
A sporting weekend
This weekend turned out to be full of sports, and not just of the Cupcake Creation variety either (which, of course, is an official sport around these parts). But I see no reason to skip over the cupcakes.. As I … Read More Here
A week in review (aka: Cupcakes in review)
While the focal point of the past 7-10 days has been Ironman Rhode Island 70.3, it’s actually been rather busy otherwise as the Girl and I spent time with my family and relatives in both Rhode Island and Connecticut. Here’s … Read More Here
Ironman Rhode Island 70.3 – 2009 Race Report
The Ironman Rhode Island 70.3 course is a bit different than most triathlon courses out there, primarily due to its point to point nature. This means that instead of starting and ending in roughly the same place, you actually start … Read More Here
IMRI 70.3…Med tent edition
Well…suffice to say that didn’t exactly go as planned on multiple fronts. I collapsed at the finish line and then found myself in the medical tent a short bit later with a sweet 102*F core body temperature. I’m good now, … Read More Here
Tomorrow
Ok, I’ve only got a second – sorry – got all behind this weekend. Suffice to say…the girl and I are ready to roll: See the Great White Shark there? Well, hopefully he doesn’t appear tomorrow (again), at the same … Read More Here
What is qualifying? The definitive guide to the biggies
Back a while ago, someone asked what all the hubbub was about ‘qualifying’ for various big events within the Triathlon or Running world. So here’s the quick rundown of how it all works for the top events in each sport. … Read More Here
Per the schedule: “Rest and Recover”
Before we can get to the rest and relaxation part, we gotta get through the less than relaxing part. But it was pretty fun! Ok, well, actually, back to rest and relaxation first. Friday evening post-long-swim, the Girl and I … Read More Here
