I currently am a treadmill runner, but this summer I will be moving to my parents house and doing all of my running outside around their ranch. I need to buy some trail running shoes, and I have no idea what to look for in running shoes. My main goal is to have comfortable shoes with thick enough soles that if I run over a mesquite thorn, it won't poke through my foot. Any tips??

I have two pairs of New Balance trail running shoes. I can't remember the model numbers but they're 700 or 800 series. They're fine, but I'm in the northeast & ran in different terrain, mostly at a place near me called the Rockefeller Preserve, where the roads are mostly old carriage routes with packed dirt, gravel & some wood chips.

Here's an online guide to buying trail running shoes which I found through an easy Google search of the term:

http://www.consumersearch.com/trail-...rtant-features

There is a website called steepandcheap.com where they have one really good deal at a time, (mostly outdoor gear, camping supplies, clothes, shoes etc.). The deal stays up for 20 minutes unless all the items sell out...I always keep the website up so I can check what the deals are but I see a lot of womens trail running shoes, for really good prices. So you could do a little research on the shoe, and if it looks good buy it...and if it doesn't work out they are really good about doing returns.

Do you have a Fleet Feet store in your area? They are really helpful and assist you in buying a running shoe especially for you. It's expensive, but you can get a fitting and then search for the shoe elsewhere.

Thank you guys for the tips! I ended up buying Adidas Kanadia because they were in my price range, were at Academy, and they got the best reviews online of the 5 trail running shoes offered by Academy. I used them yesterday on the treadmill, and I gotta say, that's pretty wonderful. I even ran an extra two minutes!!

Thanks for the advice.