I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
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Tag Archives: Random
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
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
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
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
Going really really really long with your Forerunner 305
One of the most common complaints with the Forerunner 305 is that for most age group athletes is its battery life – limited to about 10 hours on a good day. This precludes many folks from being able to use … Read More Here
Send me to Antarctica, among other things…
The first thing I shall draw your attention to is a fully updated Garmin 305 review post. As I’ve mentioned a few times, review posts that I do account for a fair chunk of traffic to my blog, so I … Read More Here
Dinner with the First Lady
I feel like I should at least mention it, albeit briefly. Tonight, when The Girl and I arrived at the restaurant (Tosca) in downtown DC for dinner, we were met with Secret Service agents and wands to check us for … Read More Here
Friday’s Random Tidbits
This week has been full of all sorts of random stuff. Given it’s been a recovery/taper week leading up to Sunday’s race here in DC, I’ve had a lowered volume of workouts. A quick recap would be: Monday: 20.02 mile … Read More Here
Rainmaker rant: Race photo companies
If you read my blog often, you know that I have little love for the majority of race-day photo companies. These being the companies that are on the course during a race and take our photos, and then offer to … Read More Here
Wanna buy a Kenyan bike?
Last week before my flight back to the US, I swung briefly through a Kenyan mega mart of sorts on the way to the airport. My coworkers wanted to pick up some coffee (nearby regions are known for it) at … Read More Here
Acting like a camel – or the water boy
At some point last summer while preparing for one of my long rides (typically 7-9 hours) I realized that I was packing more water bottles in the car than I preferred to have rolling around. And while re-using plastic bags … Read More Here
I’m no longer a girl, I’m now a male!
As some long time readers may remember, back a while ago I stumbled upon a little snafu where the US Government (in particular, the Social Security Administration) thought I was female. It all bubbled to the surface two summers ago … Read More Here
My requests to race directors
Over the past couple of years, I’ve come up with a list of things that I like – and don’t like – about races. I’m going to keep it bulleted, just to simplify things. I’m hoping that at least one … Read More Here
Ummm…it got hot.
I think this marked the beginning of the ‘busy season’, which officially goes from now until mid-November. Sorta like opening day in major league baseball – only much less relaxing. I honestly don’t remember what happened Thursday or Friday, so … Read More Here
Boston Bound
This week has been crazy busy with work and late night training. Before Wednesday night’s run, I happened upon some Caps tickets (local NHL hockey team)…for the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs…in a luxury suite. SWEET!!! And without … Read More Here
Random tidbits – I was featured on TrainingPeaks.com
Just in case some of you missed it (well, everyone but Bill)…I was featured on the front page of the Training Peaks website two weeks ago as part of their member profile series. The front page was then linked to … Read More Here
Chocolate Milk vs Endurox R4 Recovery Drink – Stimulus Edition
The other day I was chatting with a friend talking about recovery drinks. I’ve been on a chocolate milk kick for a while now – as I’ve previously gone in depth on. Given it’s been proven to be just as … Read More Here
A few random tips for new (or old) bloggers
Over the past 18 months or so I’ve figured out all sorts of little random things about this whole ‘blogging’ thing. Aside from finding out that it takes a fair bit of time, I’ve also picked up on a number … Read More Here
Tuesday Tidbits – February Edition
In no particular order – observations of the last week: No, my blog is not for sale. While I’m flattered by the offer, it would be kinda awkward to sell this blog and blog name. However, if you present me … Read More Here
Bicycle Crash Density
Who knew? Such a term. I would have called it “Place where things go wrong”. I was browsing the city’s web site and stumbled upon their ‘Pedestrian and Bicycle Mobility Plan’ from June. This plan essentially outlines how they are … Read More Here
A White Christmas (Tree) and a run in the snow
But before we can get to the Christmas Tree, we have to get beyond a run in the cold and some weight lifting. Yesterday’s morning run was quite a bit of fun. Well, I thought it was fun anyway – … Read More Here
Things I was going to blog about…
I was going to blog about the process of picking a coach, but I got lazy and busy and everything else that happens. So maybe I’ll write it up over the weekend I was going to blog about signing up … Read More Here
Tuesday Tidbits
I haven’t posted my Philly Race Report, as I’m going to wait till tomorrow evening for the official photos to get posted. Post-Marathon Sunday night I did a trainer ride, and then I swam yesterday – just a 1,000M or … Read More Here
Funny guy, ehh?
This morning sent out a calendar placeholder (out of office – OOF) for an upcoming vacation I have planned for the end of the month. My e-mail was very short, and not too descriptive beyond basically saying “I’m not really … Read More Here
Winter is here
Well, ok, maybe not exactly winter. But…it technically snowed today. I saw it with my own eyes. It may have been sunny out at the time, but that’s besides the point. For a few short minutes – snow came down. … Read More Here
Loops, Flips and More Loops
Loops Saturday marked the beginning of the taper for the Philly Marathon in two weeks. It included an interesting run workout that I hadn’t done before. It started off with a 10 minute warm up, and then stepped down temporarily … Read More Here
The miracles of degreaser
If you’re a triathlete or cyclist – then you likely find bike grease on just about every object you own. And if you’re a runner, then you’ll still find this stuff pretty darn cool. Back last winter the bike shop … Read More Here
Votage
(It’s sad, I only have one sweatshirt… I think I need to get some more) I was quite happy to find that the polling place line was only 16 seconds long. Woohoo! After reading Lesser’s post, I was fairly concerned … Read More Here
Turning into a pumpkin…or a turkey
Halloween has many pieces – there’s the pumpkins, the costumes and of course the candy gathering (even if as an adult that simply means going to the grocery store and buying the candy instead of standing at peoples doors).Tuesday evening … Read More Here
Spot Tracker Review
Here’s the third post in as many weeks reviewing various devices I’ve accumulated over the past year. As always, these are more for long-term reference that people find than they are for daily readers. Although I think many of you … Read More Here
A 10K, a marathon and wilderness in between
Let’s try and keep this weekend recap quick. On Friday night myself and two friends drove down to Charlottesville, VA to run in a 10K race there (Bad to the Bone 10K aka Charlottesville Fall Classic). (I’m in the lower … Read More Here
A day in the life of Rainmaker
Given some recent questions in the comments what my day looks like, I figured I’d take a few quick minutes to outline what today looked like. Now today isn’t exactly typical, but it is representative of the randomness that is … Read More Here
BlendTec Home Blender Product Review
Alternate Title: Will it Blend…Damn right it will! Back a month or so ago I was blending a smoothie and decided that my poor little blender just wasn’t cutting the mustard…err…pineapple. Of course it didn’t help that I’d been eyeing … Read More Here
Wanna build your own bike path?
Over the last week and a half I’ve had the entertainment of watching various road/construction crews rebuild the bike path in front of my house. I have a ‘running path’ on the side closest to my house, and a ‘bike … Read More Here