Shoes play a huge role in injury-proofing your run. Your best bet is to head to your local running shop to have a gait analysis; they are nearly always free and if you go to a reputable shop, you won’t feel pressured to buy anything.

You can, however, check your own shoes at home.

How to check your shoes:

Make sure that your toes have a thumb-width of room between the end of the shoe.
Tie the laces so that the trainer doesn’t keep moving and bashing your toes (see below).
Assess how long/far you’ve run in the same pair of trainers. If you’ve run regularly in them for a year or two, consider getting a new pair.

Once you’ve done that, it might be worth thinking about getting insoles – but only if you’ve had your gait analysed and have been diagnosed with a gait that requires extra support.

“We all know how debilitating lower limb and foot pain can be,” says Nick Beresford, CEO of Enertor.

“Every runner will have experienced some kind of niggle or injury such as stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, shin splints and runners’ knee, but scoping out the latest, scientifically proven kit and adding to your run and strength training programme will help to prevent injury in the lower limbs and improve the level of pain experienced in the feet and ankles.” Enertor insoles, for example, are credited with 44% shock reduction and 36% energy return for improved performance and muscle function. They’re even backed by the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt. As the official insole partner of England Athletics, the statistics speak for themselves; 91% of foot pain sufferers reported an improvement in the level of pain and 75% confirmed that the insoles healed their plantar fasciitis.

6 tried-and-tested tips for avoiding injury if you're running a lot more than usual