mizuno

Every Friday, three DC area bloggers Mary at Mar On the Run, Cynthia at You Signed Up For What?! and Courtney from Eat Pray Run, DC to host the Friday Five linkup. Anyone can join with their own Friday Five post (yes, it must be a Friday Five!!) They encourage you to visit other blogs on the linkup, comment, share and engage!

This week, the theme is Brands to Love

Here are the 5 Brands that I Love:

1. Mizuno for shoes

Running shoe brands…I’ve tried them all and at one time or another have loved them. Currently I love Mizuno.

2. RunningSkirts and SkirtSports for skirts

my latest RunningSkirts skirt

another one

I only run in skirts and wear quite a few different brands… I usually buy what’s on sale. If I had a choice, I would buy them from Runningskirts and SkirtSports. I love the length of their skirts and the 2 pockets.

my newest SkirtSports capris

and SkirtSports skirt

3. ProCompression for socks

Stockadeathon - November

My ankles love compression socks. I also wear different brands but ProCompression has lots of colors and they are often on sale. (Yes, price does matter.) And they are tight enough to work but not impossible to put on.

Stockadeathon

4. Champion for running clothes

Thank you Target for carrying this brand. I have their hats, socks, jackets, shirts, skirts, tights…. You can’t beat them for the price.

love this jacket, hat, skirt and tights – all Champion

love this tank, skirt and hat

5. GU for fuel

Fuel is as important as clothes in running a race. GU has gotten me through all my long runs and long races. It gives me energy. They have a variety of flavors and some without caffeine. They don’t upset my stomach.

my favorite flavors

Happy Running! What brands do you love??

That’s the question Mizuno Running posed to MBA students at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Kenan-Flagler Business School.

The analysis brought interesting figures to light for the U.S., including:

$130 billion in health care savings
An increase of more than $47 billion to the national GDP, with lost productivity due to sick days reduced by 50 percent, from 2.3 percent to 1.5 percent.
Nearly 2 billion pounds of total weight loss
10 percent increase in household earning potential
5 million fewer hospital visits
7 billion more hours spent outdoors
18.7 percent fewer divorces annually, and 29.3 million happier marriages.
10 percent improvement in self-esteem among kids.
200 million inches lost from waistlines.
116,000 fewer hip replacements annually.
48.1 million fewer cigarettes smoked daily.
63 million happier dogs (because many running dog owners would take their pets for jogs, too).
135 million fewer hours of TV watched each week, and 14 billion fewer hours spent online each year.
135 million more bananas consumed.
$4 billion increase in donations to charities

The “What If Everybody Ran” site – www.ifeverybodyran.com – takes individuals on a running journey to see the potential of a world of runners. The campaign anthem video, “What If Everybody Ran” campaign poster (above) and the analysis white paper further highlight the findings and reasons for Americans to run.

I wish I had these stats when I was on vacation in Florida. My friends whom I love dearly are not very active (well, not active at all) and overweight. When we were waiting for my race to begin, my friend repeated several times: “This just isn’t my cup of tea.” I know she preferred to be out having a drink rather than waiting for me to run a 5K evening race.

My hubby who is not a runner (but plays tennis) normally does not defend my running. In fact, I know he thinks I am crazy but actually said: I MAY TRY TO RUN A RACE!! A SHORT ONE.”

I was shocked. I thought that he was just trying to make me feel better. But he said he would do one with me.

I call this major progress!

At the time, I was a little upset at how unsupportive my friend was but when everyone’s phones were dead, her hubby ran back to the car to get my camera to take this photo: