For one who ran his first marathon in white canvas Converse tennis shoes, there is a daunting assortment of running shoes on the market. Your local running store may do a stride analysis, give you recommendations and let you test run different shoes to get you started. Beyond that, do a little studying to see what shoe companies are coming up with these days. There are several popular movements afoot, the most notable, barefoot or natural running, which you can read about in books like Christopher McDougall's Born to Run or Dany Abshire's (founder of Newton Running) Natural Running. For your second or third pair of running shoes don't be afraid to try something different. Just don't overdo it with new shoes or big changes in your running mechanics. You are not likely to find white shoes these days, either, so embrace the wild colors that are available.