Other training besides running for Cross Country season?

Question

Okay so I'm in the 8th grade and I'm doing cross country again. I swim 2 hours a day, and run for 30-50 minutes. I'm getting tired of running so I wanted some alternatives. I was thinking about jump roping for around 30-50 minutes straight. Can you give me some other ones?

Answer 1

do anything that will make your legs stronger, like biking. and when you swim, tred water and try not to use your hands as much. The stronger your legs get, the better.

When you bike, biking uphill will get your leg muscles even stronger!

Answer 2

If you're getting tired of running...then that makes me wonder how much you really want to run competitively.

However, i completely understand if you want to take one or two off-days per week and do another exercise instead of running.

You could try biking.

Also, jump-roping for 50 minutes would be quite difficult not to mention, extremely boring.

Answer 3

For distance runners, biking or pool running.

Now, unless you're running 50 miles per week I'd suggest you run more.  Running is the BEST way to get faster.

However, there are some advantages to cross-training.  You can workout very hard on the bike and recover very fast.  It's a weight-bearing exercise that doesn't deliver the pounding that your legs take while running.  It can also be a good mental break if you're getting sick of running.

Swimming is a great aerobic workout -- but it doesn't match the type of work you do when running.  Also, swimming in cool water increases your body fat (it's the body's natural reaction dealing with buoyancy and flotation) .  You can workout in the pool by doing "pool running."  You can wear a life jacket if you wish -- just run in deep end with your head above the water.  Go for very high intensity (again, low impact you can recover quickly).  It's most effective as an interval workout.

Another option -- is soccer (or football if you're in another country).  Soccer is great for cross-country runners because of the mixture of running, sprinting, running backwards, etc.  Great workout that is still very inline with your sport.

Answer 4

biking?