Editors note: This is about MY search for shoes, not shoes in general.  I'll post up some info about finding the right shoes for you a bit later...  Promise!

It used to be that shoes were an easy thing to decide on.  I walk into a store, find smthng that's not too ugly, try on a few sizes till I get one that fits, then pay and get out.  Not any more. :(

My current running shoe is a Saucony C2 Grid Roadster.  A black and silver, light, highly arched, neutral running shoe.  My current set have 65 running miles on them.  You can probably figure an extra 5 to 10 "unclocked" miles due to walking around before a race, warm ups, etc.  Still got plenty of life in them.  But, it's now pretty much "winter" here.  That changes things.

My C2s are great for pavement running, but I doubt they'll handle wet trails, mud and rock for any distance without disintegrating.  So, I need a set of trail runners.  Plus, there are going to plenty of times when I'm not going to want to go outside at all.  That means some quality time on my wife's treadmill (make no mistake here... it's in our basement, but it's her treadmill). The treadmill will only be touched by "virgin" shoes that have never seen the sun, rain, snow, mud, dirt, water, or anything else not already found on our basement tile.  So, I need another set of running shoes.

I'd be lying if I said I chose the C2's as my first real running shoe.  I didn't.  I got very lucky.  It was after I got home from the local shoe warehouse company that I did some research to find out that it's probably a pretty good shoe for me.  A visit to a real running store a few weeks later confirmed that the only shoe that worked as well (not better) was another Saucony that was "this years new model" and is essentially a flashy version of the C2 Roadster.  That trip also confirmed that I'm definitely a Saucony foot person.  Brooks and Asics feel absolutely horrible to me. New Balance are tolerable, but I wouldn't want to run any distance in them.  Nikes just feel all sorts of wrong.

Side note: The same phenomena occurs with motorcycle helmets... some people are Shoei heads, other are Arai heads, and the twain shall never meet in one helmet.

So, I wander down to my local DSW again looking to luck out in another shoe.  Directly in front of the main entrance is a "super cheap running shoe" rack.  Excellent!  I dive in and find a set of Saucony Grid Omni 5 TRs that should hold up to some nasty weather.  Price?  $40.  Score!  I try them on...  Not bad, but not great.  Maybe they'll break in.  I snag them after checking out a few other dead ends on the non-sale stuff.

I get them home and find that they are "stability", not "neutral" or "neutral plus".  Bummer. :(  They'll have to go back. 

Saucony tells you on the web site what kind of shoe they are, why not put it on the box?  (I'm not just ragging Saucony about this, most manufacturers are guilty of it.)

Looks like I might just hold out and bite the bullet for the Xodus for the trails.  Not sure about the treadmill.  I probably should get the Triumph 6, but that's a chunk of change for an indoor shoe.  But, they both have Saucony's arch-lock, which I probably need.  I probably need to scoot down to Road Runner soon and try them on.