What we learned about replacing running shoes

So I have been in a good amount of pain while running for the last month. We are training for a half marathon next weekend, as well as another one in Disneyworld in November. We have been increasing our mileage every week and towards the end of my runs my knee and my feet have hurt a ton. I didn't think there was a chance that I had to replace my shoes, I just bought the Saucony Omni 12's in April and I figured I have only put around 200 miles (if that) on them.
I thought I just may need new insoles or thicker socks and thought that might fix the problem. I took a week off to see if my knee would get better and I got thicker socks to possibly fix my foot pain, I got some awesome SmartWool socks and they are very comfortable but they didn't fix my feet hurting as I found out this morning, and my knee pain was as persistent as ever. I was super frustrated because we have our half marathon next Saturday in Cedar City and I realized there wasn't going to be a chance of me running it because my body felt like it was breaking down. I decided to go back to the running store and see what they had to say. I took in my Saucony's and they looked at the sole and said that it was time for new shoes, they could tell exactly where my foot strikes the ground and said that once the tread wears off and you can't see the design on the bottom then the sole is pretty much done. He also pointed out that on the soles around the balls of my feet you could see the white foam, meaning that part was completely worn out and that was exactly where most of my pain was.

Heel is worn out

You can see that white foam in between the red and that Y design isn't visible on a few of the red parts

I was pretty surprised that I needed new shoes and I wasn't excited considering how much tuition just cost as well as our bikes, but we knew that having feet that don't hurt is a pretty big deal so I opted for these sweet New Balance's, so far they are SUPER comfortable.

I have heard that if your shoes look worn out then you've waited too long to replace them, apparently that's true haha I didn't even think of needing to replace my shoes but they have been destroying my feet and been affecting my knee for the last 6 weeks. Here's a picture of my Saucony's today, they look like they're in pretty good condition, looking at this picture I would never guess that their time as my running partner has ended.

Here's to hoping that these new New Balance's solve my foot and knee problems so I can crank out this half marathon next weekend. I'll let you know how they fit and how they feel and if this 1/2 marathon happens.