Who the hell can I trust to give me reliable advice about running shoes? And which goddamn shoes should I buy?

I've been running exclusively on Vibrams for five months, and only in the past few weeks have I been able to run more than 8 miles with out tightness in the calves--tightness that ranges from slight twinges to searing, crippling, hobble-to-the-finish-line agony. I've also experienced downsides of Vibrams, including their propensity to soak up minute amounts of water on the road. Start running in drizzly weather, and within minutes your feet (and Injinji socks) are wet. Also, none of my times have improved a single iota. I haven't grown a pair of wings on my feet. But you know what? I love these motherfucking Vibrams. I really don't know why. Part of it is due to the absence of soreness in my knees and quads, which originally prompted my to experiment with the Vibrams in the first place. I'm no longer pronating; I no longer have that wobbly sensation with heel-strike shoes in which you can sense the pronation when your heel encounters the ground. I feel stronger on hills, due to the lightness of the Vibrams in comparison to conventional running shoes. And at the end of long, 13 mile runs, I have a sense of stamina that's entirely new to me. I think that also comes from not schlepping heavy shoes on my feet. But the main reason I love the Vibrams is because they seem closer to the true essence, the "Zen" if you will, of running. I feel much more grounded while running, in both the physical and spiritual senses of the word. The midfoot plant and short gait seem more in tune with the physical engineering of our bodies, with the way our muscles, ligaments and skeleton are put together. Running in Vibrams reminds me of when I first test-drove a Lexus. After years of driving shitty VWs, suddenly I was in a car whose drivetrain, transmission, and suspension seemed perfectly engineered to harmonize with each other. Here's where we cue the "your mileage may vary" part. I have a small frame, relatively low body fat (thanks to diet tips on Mefi) and a low center of gravity, so that may be why I'm doing well with the Vibrams. Larger, bulkier runners might have problems. It's quite possible that Vibrams are a total sham, and that ten years from now we'll see research proving the effectiveness of traditional heel-strike shoes. We're in new territory here. Most of all, the OP is a competitive runner training for NY, and it's probably a bad idea to screw around with the process while approaching a marathon. But some people might be like me. In the last analysis, I don't give a fuck about the health and weight-control benefits of running, about the increased longevity and the like. I just like to run. Running makes me feel alive. If I don't run, I feel like shit, I get jittery, and I can't sleep at night. For me, Vibrams have amped up the pleasure aspect of running manyfold. After several miles, you're no longer aware of them--it seems like you're running barefoot. There's just you, and the road, and the wind. It's pure, orgasmic pleasure.

Go to a non-chain "running store". Ask your salesperson how much they run, look around for hints that the store supports the "scene" like sign up cards for the next big race in your area, etc. Let them take you through the whole pitch, which should include jogging while they watch, etc. Get their recommendations, then say 'thank you very much', and leave. run what they said by a podiatrist. If she calls bullshit, try another store. If she doesn't, go back and buy from them, because they've done you right. This is how I ended up running in Vibrams, actually, but YMMV

have a gait analysis done by a sports doctor, not the guy at the running store who is working for minimum wage + commish. find out the types of shoes that you should be buying (minimalist, for pronators, for supinators, for heavy runners - for example) and then shop at a store where you can return the shoes after less than a month's usage. join a running group to start, get a running coach if you are serious, listen to advice - and sort through that advice. Keep what works for you, throw out the other advice away. You have a reasonable goal ahead of you (NYC 2011) and you are building up your mileage. I am assuming by your note that you don't have overuse injuries at this time (some of us are blessed this way - like you I am a slower runner with lots of determination with six ultras under my belt). Keep up the training and the careful monitoring of any overuse injuries while working up to 30 - 50 miles a week by summer's end in 2011. Listen to your body *carefully*. But back to the shoes - see that sports doc. Get some shoe recommendations from this person, and try out a few brands. If your budget allows, buy a few pair and rotate them.

Go to a shoe store. Try everything on. Buy the shoe that feels the best. Don't try to out-think yourself or talk yourself into anything else, but don't stop looking if you find something you like. As ShootTheMoon said, try to find a store with a generous return policy. Consider the suggestions of the salespeople, but do not follow their advice blindly. They are not shoe gods, they cannot feel what you feel, and they only really know as much as you tell them. They can help narrow your choices, but they can't make the decision. I sell running shoes, and I have some starting points that I'd be glad to share with you (NB: I am in the running shoe industry and I have my own biases). Are they the right goddamn shoes? Maybe, maybe not. It's your money, they're your feet, it's your choice.

Don't go to a shoe store. Get a reccomendation for a local podiatrist from a running forum (in Australia, Cool Running Forum for example). See the podiatrist, get a proper recommendation, they will probably give you 3 or 4 types of shoes that will suit you. Then go to a shoe store and try some shoes and see what you like. Some running stores are great, some are bad, but all podiatrists have a real degree, and if you work with one who has experience with runners you will get the recommendation you need. PS (after about 500km barefoot [well, racing flats, based on barefoot], I got capsultitis from a lack of support that plagues me today. Approach the barefoot koolaid with trepidation. It's not for everyone.)

It's true that barefoot doesn't work for everyone. If you're lived in arch support since you started walking, or if you actually have some severe deformity of your gait, then don't bother. Though, if you call millions of years of distance running interrupted by forty years of Nike marketing a fad, then I guess it's a fad. Experiment as much as you can. A running store jammed me into some moon boot running shoes when I first started. I had no gait abnormalities or anything and I didn't like it so i started running in plain old Sambas. I liked the flexibility and flatness of the sole and the lighter shoe, so I made the jump to Vibrams and haven't looked back. Maybe I haven't been exposed to the fad somehow, but it seems to me that relatively few actually run in them compared to how many just like to walk around in them at the mall and answer questions about them. And to build on what Kafkaesque points out if you go barefoot, running will become a much more technical exercise. Your gait and maintaining it will become number one and your mile times will follow how well you do on that front. You can't get away with a heel strike in Vibrams for a hundred yards, let alone an actual run.

I run in Vibrams because if I don't, knee pain knocks me out. No double-blind studies there or anything, they're just the only thing that have worked (including $40 orthotics and super-arch-support shoes because I, too, pronate.)

Hated Born to Run for the weird prose and the ethno-fetishism. Hated Chi Running for the style of Capitalizing every bit of advice like Lean Forward and do a Body Scan (like, every other sentence feels like it should have (TM) after it). But, these fads are fad reactions to the fad of having big puffy balloons around our feet, so I think some approach to more "natural" running is very welcome. And both these bad books have inspired me to change how I run. (Disclaimer: I run like some of y'all walk, so this is totally an non-expert opinion). I have never been a happier runner than running in my vibrams. That said, even though I started extremely gradually, I still may have gotten a stress fracture after a 12k trail run this weekend. I think I need to follow the ChiRunning principle of GradualProgress(TM) even more strictly. The best point in Chi Running, IMO, is that we should make running a Practice (sorry for the caps), which means not being so invested in goals (like speed and times) and instead focusing on what it means to us to run. [FWIW, I used to say that Vibrams are to running as recumbant bikes are to cycling, but now that I've also changed my OS I think there's a Linux reference to be worked in there.]

The biggest thing I have taken away from my following of the research and the hype is that people will basically adjust to any kind of shoe you put them in. If you wear a cushy shoe that starts to wear out? Your body adjusts to the decrease in cushion. So really, it seems to me that the biggest part of your decision should be whether you want to do heel-strike running or more barefoot/pose-style midfoot-strike. If you are going to keep doing heel-strike running, don’t buy vibrams or other barefoot-esque shoes. Frankly, I would just go to the store and try on several pairs until you find one that feels really good (and do a little test run around the store in them), and buy them. 12-15 miles a week is not enough to obsess over the PERFECT running shoe, and you’re gonna be buying new shoes at least once more before you start serious marathon training so this decision is not life-or-death. If you think you might want to try barefoot-style running, but not jump fully into vibrams, you can probably find some thin-soled running shoes (like the saucony bullet) at DSW for cheap, especially if you have a coupon. They aren’t the full experience, but they will do to keep you off your heels, and give you a feel for that running style.