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.
Tag Archives: Training
Sports Tracks in depth – ten little tidbits
Most of you folks know I love Sports Tracks – I think it’s hands down the best and most comprehensive sports activity management application out there today. (The above uses the Power Analysis Plug-in) Of course, making it better is … Read More Here
A warm fall
After returning from Austin mid-last week, I’ve been in a fairly easy training mode. Though, Saturday had a fair bit of pop to it with respect to workouts. It started off with a 1hr wetsuit swim, as has been usual … Read More Here
Texas Training Extravaganza
I’ve been down here in Austin, TX since last Friday – but that doesn’t mean my training stops. Nope, it just changes scenery. On Saturday (the day before Longhorn 70.3 that I was cheering at), I went out and basically … Read More Here
Three sports…one training day
The day was labeled “Race Simulation” on my training calendar. And had it been a nice summer day with birds chirping, it might have been just dandy. But in reality, here’s what it looked like: Given the weather forecast was … Read More Here
4 Hours
It’s funny, if you take a four hour workout and put it on a weekend, it really doesn’t seem so bad. Say from 9AM to 1PM – you’re done around lunch time, and you have the remainder of the day … Read More Here
The long..long road ahead
While the ride was technically scheduled at 118 miles – just two miles short of my all-time 120 mile high, the weather conditions forecasted made it clear it was going to be a long…long ride. Despite temperatures into the rather … Read More Here
Cycling and cupcakes
This weekend was a bit of a whirlwind, sorta like the time-lapse video I put together. Saturday morning was spent trying to catch up on sleep before heading down to Prince William Forest National Park to get in a solid … Read More Here
2009 Chesapeake Man Aqua-Velo Race Report
The Chesapeake Man Ultra Triathlon is essentially a Ironman Distance Triathlon, but because World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) owns the naming rights to “Ironman”, these non-M-Dot races (referring to the logo of the M with a dot) are usually called something … 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Getting to the taper
I think mentally I had written off this week as part of the taper for Rhode Island next week. Perhaps because I didn’t really look at my schedule in detail, perhaps because it was July, perhaps because I don’t really … Read More Here
It’s cheaper than a night out…century rides.
After attending a wedding Saturday evening, the girl and I were mixing up our nutrition for our long ride the next day when I realized that I had just gone through an ENTIRE CONTAINER of my sports drink (EFS) 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
Beneath the trees near the track
Up until now the majority of my weekday brick workouts have been done at home. I’d be on my trainer for the bike portion, and then just simply run outside for the run piece. Quick, and efficient. However, there are … 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
Chicken!
Before I could go get my new grill, I first had to knock out my Monday swim workout. It wasn’t too bad though, it started off with a 2,000 yard continuous chunk of warm-up, drills and other technique focused stuff … Read More Here
Bikes, Bubbles and BBQ’s
I’m now back on my ‘normal’ time zone, at least for another week anyway. This means a fairly relaxing Saturday. My only workout for the day was a 4200 yard swim, which ended with a 500 time trial (TT). This … Read More Here
Cows and Corn? Welcome to Lincoln, Nebraska!
It becomes more rare with every trip I take that I actually get to go somewhere that I haven’t been to before. However, every once in a while comes along some trip that takes me to a place i haven’t … Read More Here
Aloha – from the Hawaiian islands!
After my race on Sunday, I had to quickly pack up everything and get all my stuff ready for a work trip to Hawaii. I took off early Monday morning, and after 12 hours of flying time, I descended down … Read More Here
Riding into the night…
Last night (Monday) I had a long ride scheduled. I don’t usually have long rides scheduled on weekdays, but with a short sprint race this past weekend, and the Boston Marathon this upcoming weekend (well, Monday) it was gearing up … Read More Here
Training while travelling
After my trip to Spain, some folks asked me how I manage to find places to train while I’m travelling. Given how often I travel (for work or holiday), it’s pretty important to be able to stay on top of … Read More Here
The Taper Week Ahead
Taper weeks are always fun. I get to turn up the speed dial a bit and due to the reduced training load – my body is recovering faster and thus going faster at the same HR zones. Which…after all, is … Read More Here
Readjusting
It wasn’t actually the time zone shift with the trip that hosed things up for me. But rather, the work hours in the week leading up to the trip, and then the work hours post trip. This gummy bear was … Read More Here
Mama said there’d be days like this
Well no, actually, she didn’t. She didn’t mention anything about these days. This was definitely not on the talking points list anywhere in my childhood. After 4.5 hours of sleep after working past midnight, it was up at 5:50AM 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