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Hey there Newsletter supporters! I have so much to catch you up on. But, right out of the gates, I’m going to let you know that I have (mentally) committed to a newsletter a week for the next 3 weeks! WHAT? Yes, you read that correctly. You might already know, I’m headed to Kona, Hawaii this October to compete in the Ironman World Championships, and I thought you all might find it interesting to have some insight into that final leg of prep! I’m sure the majority of you are scratching your noggin’ wondering when the heck I actually did my first Ironman to have even qualified in the first place! Surprise?!? I raced in June, raced is a subjective term, and I’ll tell you a little bit about that day and more importantly, what lies ahead, in the “In-Depth Thoughts of the Girl” down below.
But first, today’s newsletter. As always, I’ll give you the latest update of what’s been happening on the website, then on the YouTube's, and then lastly, my ramblings of what’s happening in general. If you’re new to this newsletter feed, welcome! If you have some extra reading time, you can always check out the Newsletter Archives and catch up on what stories have been told in the past! As well, I’m going to continue to shamelessly plug the Quarantine Corner (which is now actually called The QC… people voted Quarantine off the island) where you get 1- 2 episodes a month of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the DCR world, Ray chatting openly about stuff that didn’t make the in-depth review, and of course the bloopers. To access all that goodness, go ahead and sign up to be a DCR Supporter!
Notably, if you’re at all interested in how the sh!t met the fan (not OnlyFans, just a single fan, assisted by Reddit) between Ray and COROS, this current episode of the QC is the first time Ray has unloaded on that situation. So, that in itself might be worth signing up and catching up on how the CEO decided to take to social media to start a smear campaign against Ray and his ability to wear a heart rate monitor. The Website A lot has been happening here. So much so that I have rewritten this section too many times. Ray just keeps putting out more stuff! September has been a mega-release month. So, I’m going to try to breeze through this for you!
First up was the dual release from Wahoo. Both the KICKR Move Smart Trainer and the KICKR BIKE Shift posts have hit the site. I for one, promptly stole the KICKR Move, as soon as Ray unboxed it. I can’t speak to the tech behind it all, but the “move” portion of that trainer is sweet. I had a 5-hour indoor trainer ride last week, and something with the road-like movement in the saddle really helped me with comfort on the bike. Now if I could just get Ray to put a 12-speed cassette on there. The one that's been sitting next to it in a box for 6 weeks…
Next up, as the whole world knows, Apple had its annual September release event. Ray spent some time mulling around California and has since spent significant time with both the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Apple Watch 9 Series. He did do “what’s new” posts on those just after the release, but it might be more interesting now for you to see the in-depth reviews. So here they are: Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9. Enjoy!
Then there was a resurrection of the Garmin Vivoactive Series- the new Garmin Vivoactive 5 hit the shelves. It’s been about 4 years since we’ve seen a new Vivoactive come along. Ray put one of those puppies on me for a couple of weeks to wear side-by-side with my Fenix 7s Pro. You guys know by now that I’m a creature of habit and really don’t want to mess with new tech, so I didn’t mess with it too much, mostly collected data and new tan lines. Personally, I’m not a fan of touchscreen watches, I like to physically press buttons. Otherwise, I was happy with the new nap tracking feature! Which makes me ask the question why doesn’t my fancy Fenix 7 Pro series have nap tracking? I need that feature if I have any hopes of my training readiness score ever getting out of the single digits! Looking at you Garmin...
And the last post I’m going to pop on here today, is the newly announced GoPro Hero Black 12. Honestly guys, Ray has been a madman running around getting comparison footage for so many things over the past month - it’s insane. So you have both the What’s New post and the Beginners Guide.
Okay, here’s the last-last thing I’ll say. It’s sort of a continuation of the GoPro Hero Black 12 post. But if you’re not really interested in the camera stuff, but YOU DO enjoy watching Ray when he’s hilarious - then don’t miss the iPhone 15 vs GoPro Hero 12 Black Tested! And that’s it for today, I know there are many posts that I missed, but I thought these were the most interesting. YouTube The YouTube channel has been gang-busters lately. Pretty much every review from above has a video or three. So without further chatter, I’m gonna just list them below and you click on what you like. Please remember that every “Like” and new Subscriber really makes a difference to content creators’ successes, so please don’t be shy, give a like to the videos and subscribe if you haven’t already! · iPhone 15 vs GoPro Hero 12 Black Tested! · Apple Watch Series 9 In-Depth Review · Apple Watch Ultra 2 In-Depth Review · Garmin Vivoactive 5 In-Depth Review · GoPro Hero 12 vs DJI Action 4: Ultimate Low Light/Night Comparison Test … there are just too many to list. Just go ahead and click here for the Channel! |
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In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl Hello friends, Thanks for continuing to make it this far down the newsletter to my little part of the world. For some of you who follow me on Instagram, you already know what’s shaking. But I understand social media isn’t for everyone, and that’s cool, but for me, the IG is kind of a little journal I’ve been keeping. It’s fun to look back on what I’ve been up to. And so, what HAVE I been up to?
I definitely failed this summer to write up a race report of Ironman Austria. You read that correctly, I did my first full Ironman event over the summer. While the stars were very far from aligning that day… one could even say the stars were completely misaligned for that entire race training block, I still managed a slot for Kona. Bad luck with an Achilles injury (ouch!) and doubly bad luck with a major flu/demon infection that ran through our family for 2+ weeks. Meh. If nothing else, I’ve earned some solid street cred for perseverance, and headed into Kona, perseverance is one thing I definitely want in my tool belt! Since then I've been putting in all the miles, all the time. At this point, we're a touch under three weeks till the big day, and figured maybe you all would like a bit of an inside look at how I’ve been preparing. I HOPE to get 2 more newsletters to you before the race, but we will see how that goes! Have faith.
For today I’m just going to give you some insights on my heat training. While an Ironman in and of itself is brutal, any endurance race that’s going to take place in unwavering heat and humidity, is taking things to a whole new level. The average weather for Kona, Hawaii in October is 87*F/31*C, and then humidity is around 82%. Keeping in mind, most of the course is completely exposed, so catching some sunshade while out there is about as likely as me beating out Lucy Charles-Barclay’s women’s swim record. When September hit and reality was setting in that I really was training for Kona, I approached Ray and said we needed to break out the Core Body Temperature sensors that he had at the office. From there, we knew we needed more guidance on how to do these heat training sessions correctly. Ray had been in touch with these guys for years, but more for the Ray side of things on the tech and connectivity aspects of the devices, not necessarily on applying it to a training program. So we hopped on a call with the guys from Core, looped in my Coach Brad, and buckled up for a really cool presentation on what heat training even means, how to do it safely, and as well how best to add this into our current build to Kona. After posting several videos on Instagram, and sending picture messages to my family and friends of me training in my super cool heat training body suit, a few people responded with messages along the lines of “That’s pretty extreme, no?”. And the answer is, kinda yes, and kinda no. I like to compare heat training to altitude training. Athletes have been using all kinds of methods to mimic altitude training. I can’t imagine going from here in the Netherlands which is literally below sea level, and deciding to show up to a marathon in Boulder, Colorado (1,600 meters / mile high city), and thinking that that race is going to go well without any sort of acclimation training beforehand. The heat training is very similar. Currently, we are trying to hit 2-3 heat training sessions a week, and keep that load all the way up to race week. The key with the training sessions is getting into the right heat zone for your body (aka when are you pouring sweat) and keeping in that temperature range, without over cooking! I’ve learned really quickly that once the furnace that’s in your body starts cooking, it’s like a runaway train! What’s really important with this stuff is truly listening to the advice of “more isn’t better”. So, driving your core body temp up to 102-103*F isn’t necessarily going to give you better physiological responses to the heat. If anything, that type of heat strain is just going to leave you feeling really unwell, if not immediately, later that day or the next.
While I’ve been sweating it out in the Core Body suit, Ray has had a mind of his own. This past weekend he found himself at the hardware store, then the DCR Cave for about 4-5 hours building a makeshift heat cave for me. He needs to be careful what he’s up to. As the fall and winter weather of the Netherlands is fast approaching, he might just find I have moved my whole desk down there too.
I have had one heat session in the newly minted cave, but we quickly realized we needed thicker plastic. So I ended up half in the Core suit for the workout. The suit helped get me up to temp, and then I stripped it off to stay within a safe core temp zone. New thicker plastic arrived today, which is thankfully silly cheap, and quick to re-do. Alright, this chatter about heat has gone on long enough. If you want more info on the sensor or heat training/acclimation, hang tight because I’m sure Ray will be making a post on it sometime soon as well. Since he did build the ceiling height in my little cave high enough for him to use the treadmill, I’m assuming he’s going to put himself through the heat ramp test at some point as well! I hope you’ve found this somewhat entertaining. I’m really excited to be headed to Kona. It’s truly the biggest race I could have ever dreamed of competing in. And I hope you will enjoy following along as we make our way to the Big Island! Let me know what you think, and as always, thanks for reading and supporting DC Rainmaker. Bobbie |
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