"To minimize your risk of twisting an ankle when you're running off-road, one thing to focus on is strengthening your foot and ankle muscles. The simplest way to add brawn to your feet and ankle stabilizers is to do a small amount of barefoot running each week. About 20 minutes of unshod jogging on grass or your home treadmill will do the trick."

—Matt Fitzgerald is a senior editor at Competitor, the author of Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen & The Greatest Race Ever Run, as well as 17 other books, and a coach and training intelligence specialist for PEAR Sports. He boasts a marathon time of 2:41, Matt is an expert on training, nutrition and injury prevention. Find out more at mattfitzgerald.org.