Change in shoes and a solid 8 mile run

I finally took my Brooks Adrenaline shoes back to See Jane Run yesterday and exchanged them for some Asics. I can't even tell you which style running shoe they are.  They felt pretty good in the store, but that hasn't proven to be the true tell anyway.  I will admit that I left feeling a little skeptical about the shoe with which I had just left.  I wasn't convinced they were the best, but they felt the best of any of the shoes I tried on in the store.  I'm going to come back to this later.

I decided last night that I was going to go on an 8-mile run today.  No question.  I was going to do it and that was that.  My last few runs have not been very good, but I also know that the good ones will come back.  I got up and made myself a cup of coffee and sat down at the computer to map out a few choices.  I finally settled on one that would take me a few miles out of the area I've been running for the past few years but not completely out of the area.  I made myself a strawberry and banana smoothie and ate a granola bar, then went upstairs and got ready to go out for my run.  I came back to check my map and get mentally prepped and decided to tweak my run a little bit...and then I screwed up the entire map.  Oops.  I started over and decided on a much different route that would take me out of my normal running circle for all but 2.25 miles, and then I got really excited to head out.  I was nervous that I'd take a wrong turn in one of the neighborhoods, so I wrote out my route on my hand (right next to my new Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor!)

I started out and felt pretty good about everything.  I kept my pace slow to start (~11:00/mile) and went from there.  I stopped at about mile 5 and took a picture.  It's not like it was a spectacular view or anything, it's just that it was SO NICE to have a view other than houses and yards. 

That being said, the rest of my run felt pretty good.  At about mile 8 (which was my goal), I thought "I could just want the rest of the way home" but didn't.  I made it home, but the tips of my toes just plain hurt.  They ached from about mile 6 until I got home and even after I took the shoes off and walked around barefoot for awhile.

Stats:
8.65 miles in 1:33:31
10:51 avg pace

So here's my frustration with shoes:  I've had my gait analyzed at 2 different stores.  The first was at See Jane Run in Boise.  They put me in the Saucony ProGrid Guide a few years ago, and the Sauconys were good for me for quite a long time, but I never ran over 3 miles in those shoes.  I then went to Shu's Running in Boise, as recommended by a co-worker, to have another gait analysis and compare their results to those of See Jane Run.  I ended up leaving there with Saucony ProGrid Guides as well, and they were great shoes for running under 5 miles.  Anything over 5 miles hurt the ball of my foot, which made training for long distances more of a pain than anything else.  I suffered through it, mostly because I had no idea these weren't the right shoes for me until I had them for a few months.  My Sauconys have finally worn out and I went back to See Jane Run to get new shoes.  I tried on Brooks and they felt amazing in the store, but lacked cushion in the ball of the foot.  That was a deal-breaker, so I went to exchange them yesterday.  Here's where I have a problem.  I love the women at See Jane Run.  I think they are extremely nice and really want to help.  Unfortunately, I've found that the 3 times I've been in there, the sales person really pushes for the type of shoe that fits her particular foot.  I am beginning to wonder if they know the actual differences between each shoe or if I need to do more research before I go into a running store.  I really don't want to do this; isn't there a reason these people work at a running store?  Shouldn't they know all of the differences between each shoe and be able to figure out from there the type of shoe I should wear? 

I'm frustrated with this, obviously.  So, if you wear a stability shoe, what's your shoe?  If you work at a running shoe store, what would you suggest next?