When I was young, the only shoes that would fit were the blue ones! That was then, now things are a bit more complicated. Up until I started running, I just got some cheap shoes and didn’t really care. Road Runner Sports has a free service called Shoe Dog that helps you pick the right shoe based on so criteria, a tread mill test, and an analysis of your arch. I had been using the same series of shoe, Asics GT-2100 series for a few years. When I went to get my latest pair of shoes, I went with the GT-2140, the latest in the series. Turns out that they made some major changes to the shoe that made them very painful when running. Luckily Road Runner Sports has a 60 day guarantee on the shoes (if you’re part of their “club”) that allows you to run in them. I ran a few times and had such pain, that I returned to Road Runner Sports, did the Shoe Dog again and picked a Saucony shoe that so far is a bit more comfortable.
I’m amazed that I never paid much attention to shoes even though I have spent a lot of time walking and running; if I had known how much a shoe could make a difference in comfort, I would have spent the money for a good shoe a long time ago!