And good hiking shoes. I got into a bit of trouble on my second when I used some not so great shoes and developed pain in the middle of my foot.
It turned out that I was putting too much stress on the middle of the foot when walking (bad mechanics, as my podiatrist showed me). The podiatrist, who seemed excited to see something new, showed me a slight thickening of the bone at the joint in the middle toe of my left (supporting) foot due to the extra stress. Apparently we're supposed to put most of the weight on the outside and inside of the foot.
He repeated that it was a result of improper walking technique, prescribed good shoes and inserts. It took a few months to eliminate the pain, the area is still a little stiff (nowhere near problematic though), and will work itself out, but it was something I couldn't have fathomed.
I did buy some hiking boots with good support, inserts for all of my shoes, and replaced my work shoes with some suggested shoes.
I bought a pair of Clark's shoes, Merrell Jungle mocs relaxed shoes, Hi Tec Men's Altitude IV hiking boots. For inserts, I used the Spenco Polysorb Total support, which have been great. I even got the Spenco flip flops (Polysorb Total Support Sandals), since I spend a lot of the summer in those. I'm sure you can find the same or better on other brands, but those worked for me and kept my podiatrist off my back.
I wasn't taking chances again. The pain subsided, but having spent so much effort in recuperating from the hips, it ticked me off that I had neglected the most basic thing that I should have remembered: good footwear.