Shoes: So having put in waaaaay too many miles on my Big 5 clearance New Balance 508 ($30), I decided it was time to buy a 'real' pair of shoes. Cause I take running seriously now (and I finally got the wife to ok it :P).
Everyday Athlete was the store of choice because
1) I like to support those that support the Tri community. Lance and company are great!
2) They would take the time to fit me to a correct shoe, and not just the latest style
3) The prices are roughly the same wherever you go
I've gotta say, having never owned a pair of real running shoes. Wow! Big big difference between the old pair and the new pair. I got Asics GT-2150, and took them out immediately for a run. Considering the majority of my training has been on treadmills (pesky convenience factor), I did 20 minutes on treadmill then took them out for 15 minutes on trails. I love running again!
Here's a great video to convince you to buy some. If you're serious about running, really go get fit, it's worth it!
The video is right, it does feel great around the foot, and I tried on probably 14 different pairs of shoes. Each time I would take it for a little 1/4 mile run outside the store, and try really hard to feel what was going on with my feet. After the purchase the hardest part was taking it easy. It's been a couple months since last seriously running, and I could tell that going easy at first, well below max HR was going to be very important to prevent injury.
