Friday Five: 5 Brands to Love

This weeks Friday Five hosted by Cynthia from You Signed Up for What, Courtney from Eat Pray Run, DC and Mar from Mar on the Run is titled “5 brands to love”.

Skratch Labs: They are the people behind the Feed Zone cookbooks and make a hydration mix and more for athletes. It’s a great all natural product made in the USA. They use high quality ingredients as particularly evident in their cookie mix I posted about a while back. And on top of all that they have some amazing customer service–I often get an email saying my package has shipped before I get the email with the receipt for my purchase. They care about their mission, they care about their product and they care about their customers–does it get better than that?!

Picky Bars: I stumbled upon these amazing bars when I was looking for healthier options for things to eat on the bike a few years ago. They are gluten free, dairy free and all natural…and they taste good! They are made for athletes by athletes with a 4 to 1 carb to protein ratio. They even have a club you can join that sends you your choice of bars once a month so you don’t have to worry about resupplying when you run out–it happens automatically for you! They also care about their customers and even feature them on the new wrappers.

Road ID: When I first started running and biking I was told I needed to get myself a Road ID, so I did. It was one of those “no brainers” as I am a big advocate of safety while exercising outside. After ordering from them several times, I got to know more about the company, how it started and their true desire to help. I am now a member of their affliliate program, so if you do click on a link to Road ID on my website and subsequently purchase something, I will receive a small percentage of what you spend, but I wouldn’t have become an affiliate if I didn’t believe in the company and the product. Recently, my ID had become unreadable because of so much use (I actually wear mine 24/7 and not just while exercising) and they replaced the ID free of charge. All I had to do was email customer service and they made me a new one and sent it out asap. As someone with drug allergies and asthma, I rest easier knowing that if something happens to me, those on site to help will know those things.

Newton Running: My transition over to forefoot striking while running was made possible by a pair of Newtons someone gave me as a gift a couple of years ago and since then, I have run in to other brand of shoe–my foot has found it’s forever home! Believe me, I have tried other shoes…most recently all the hype about the Hoka’s got me to try a couple of their designs and I always come back to my Newton kicks. Right now I am running in the motion and I am loving the purple and gold colors.

ErinCondren.com: I stumbled across this great designer a couple of years ago. She is unique, positive and colorful in her design and strives to make products that are very user friendly. She started making a planner/organizer and I started ordering one every year. Over the years she has made so many upgrades that it’s now totally the bomb of a planner! To read more about my planner check out this post. Her products allow me to organize my schedule to fit it all in and then some. Check them out as there are so many things that are useful for different aspects of our lives. Right now I am loving my desk calendar pad that I ordered recently that allows me to take notes, doodle, write out my weekly schedule, make a to do list and more.

So those are five brands that I love. What are some of the brands you love?

Don’t forget to check out my giveaway from earlier this week where I am giving a Camelbak waist belt that will hold your a water bottle, your phone, some food and more while you are out on a run.