Your running shoes are the most important thing, right?
I mean, it's the only piece of equipment that significantly affects your running. Everything else is just garnish - your shorts and t-shirt don't make you run faster or increase your risk of injury. It's one of the reasons I love running - you don't need lots of specialist equipment or expensive gym memberships.
Run for any length of time and you hear a lot about getting the right shoe for your running style. Mention that you have a niggle or an injury and I bet that somebody will look at your feet and suggest that you get new ones. Lots of people advocate support and cushioning; others sing the praises of minimalist or barefoot running. Go to any specialist (or, indeed, non-specialist) running shop and you'll be offered "gait analysis" that looks at some key aspects of your running style like footstrike (which part of your foot you land on) and pronation (how your foot rolls) in order to recommend shoes that are "right" for you.
For me, it's complicated. One thing I do know is that if you have an imbalance in your running style, a weak area that's forcing other muscles to work harder than they should, I don't care how much support and cushioning your trainers have - they're not going to fix your running style. They might encourage you to change your posture and your stride for a while but if you don't work with that, your body will adapt and find its way back to its old habits (the technical term is "preferred movement path"). This is supported by a review paper by Benno Nigg at the University of Calgary. I'll save you wading through it - the short version is that they reviewed decades of other studies and found that, despite all of the fancy improvements to running shoe technology, injury rates haven't really changed. Professor Nigg knows his stuff, he's been described as “one of the world’s foremost experts on biomechanics”, and what he basically advises is to pick the shoes that are most comfortable - that choosing them based on footstrike and pronation doesn't really work to ensure you get the right ones.
So you heel strike? You need a shoe with more heel padding. I don't agree - if you heel strike then it's putting a strain on your whole physiology (and slowing you down) because it's inefficient. So fix it. Read about how heekl striking affects you and how to shift to a mid-foot/fore-foot landing. Learn that changing your stride is about your whole posture, not just your feet. Spend time working on it, concentrating on what your feet are doing, how you're landing, where your shoulders are, where your centre of gravity is, the parts of you that feel relaxed and easy and light, the parts that feel tense and heavy.
Be mindful of your stride. Take ownership of it.
It's not easy - it takes time and lots of practice to be aware of your body. As runners, we spend a lot of time ignoring our bodies (legs heavy, lungs burning, shut it out, got to keep going) so it feels really strange to start listening again. Your foot is an incredible machine - a powerful, elegant shock absorber that spreads and stores energy and springs back. When it's functioning as it should, it doesn't need any help. When it's not working properly, there isn't a shoe in the world that's going to fix it.
My favourite shoes are an ancient, now-discontinued pair of Brooks Pure Drift which are ultra-minimalist and lightweight with a really wide toe box (I have wide feet), very little cushioning and almost zero drop from heel to toe. They're the kind of shoes that people look at and say "Well, they're fine for racing but no good for long training runs." I respectfully beg to differ. It's precisely because they are so unforgiving that they're so good for me. The lack of cushioning forces me to be light on my feet - when I'm tired and landing heavily I know about it very quickly. I'm reminded to correct my stride, to concentrate on being light from head to toe. I can feel the ground through them so my feet and legs feel secure. I've tried running in shoes that are softer and the spring feels great for a while but my ankles and shins quickly begin to hurt because I'm seeking a firmer contact with the ground, trying to get "through" the sole to connect with a solid surface.
I'll have to let these shoes go at some point. I looked at the soles of them earlier and was forced to accept that they're wearing really thin. They've been repaired with super glue and, more recently, needle and thread. I should have retired them a long time ago (Strava keeps nagging me to do so) but I love them and I haven't found anything to replace them. I recently bought a pair of trail shoes from the same range (the Pure Grit) and I love those too but they're no good for road running - the soles are too stiff and too thick. They're thinner and more flexible than most trail shoes but they're still a world away from the Pure Drift.
The right shoes are important, I'm not saying they're not. I strongly advise you to buy them from a specialist running shop, preferably an independent one. Find one that will listen to you and give you advice, that will let you try out (and actually run in) lots of different pairs, that will give you time to choose and not pressure you. Don't listen to me either - respect your body and trust it and choose shoes that are right for you. Just remember that if you set out to buy a pair that allow you to zone out and forget about your feet then it's going to catch up with you at some point. Your body is your most important piece of equipment and it's time to start listening to it.