Trying to find the right running shoe

Happy Friday everyone! I'm just sitting here tonight thinking about what else....my running shoes.  When I first started running I didn't wear the appropriate footwear and I didn't change my shoes out as often as I should have.  I started to develop pain on the ball of my foot by my big toe joint.  I decided that I should probably get new shoes to see if that would help.  After doing some research I ended up with the Asics GT-2150:

To be honest I wasn't looking to spend a lot of money.  Matt had a coupon to a local department store.  I did some research into motion controlled shoes and found out that they had this shoe at the store on sale!! So I went for it.  These shoes were great. They had good support and a wide toe box.  Within a couple of weeks the pain had subsided. I felt it every now and then but defintely not as bad as it had been.  So 6 months goes by, Matt and I join a running club and I realize hey, I should probably get new shoes again.  With our running club membership we got 20% off at a local new balance store.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to figure out what shoes were right for me and get a professional's opinion.  I spent way more money than I thought I would and trusted the salesman's opinion.  I walked out of the store with this shoe:

The New Balance 1260.  I did my first couple of runs and everything was ok.  They were much different than the asics. It felt almost like I was walking on a cloud they were so cushiony.  The guy at the store said they were for moderate overpronators so I thought they would have good support, but I think my $50 asics had more.  As my running got more frequent the pain in my foot returned.  Whenever I wore these shoes I could feel it.  I really didn't want to admit to myself that I just wasted all this money on these shoes and that the cheap shoes were probably a better fit for me.  After my 10k I gave my foot a rest for a couple of weeks. My first few runs back I used my old asics. NO PAIN!! My doctor's appointment is Monday and hopefully that will take me to a foot specialist.  I think I want to get a real professional's opinion before I go buying another pair of running shoes.

For now I'm doing shorter runs and stopping if I have any pain. Thank God it's winter...gives me a good excuse to cross train since it's so cold out!

Tomorrow morning I will be giving oatmeal another try.  I could never stomach it before because of the texture.  The overnight oats are the only way I could handle them (because I'm obsessesed with greek yogurt).  Well I'm giving them another go.  I'm making pumpkin pie oatmeal...noticing a trend lately? PUMPKIN!!!