THAT LAST PUSH IN CROSS-COUNTRY Ed Poirier, Coach Dear Coach Ed, Our daughter has just finished her 2nd year of cross-country. She loves it. She has great endurance and will benefit from longer runs (+3K). She has trouble speeding up in the last push towards the finish line. She is often in the top 5 (of 100 girls) until she gets to the last push and then is passed in the final 30 seconds. Any suggestion for training tips to increase her ability to sprint would be appreciated. She has raised this with her coaches and they haven't been able to provide any suggestions. Endurance is not an issue for her. Thanks, Tony Hi Tony, If leg speed is the issue I would suggest your daughter do sprinting drills. Ex. Run in place for a few seconds then speed up to as fast as you can run without losing form for 3 seconds lean forward and take off for a few steps. This is repeated 10 times 3 days a week during her training season, not her racing season. The whole workout takes about 8 minutes. The training I have found most successful for girl distance runners is having them compete in 200 meter races during the summer season (don't use starting blocks). The 30 seconds you write about is about 200 meters. Having your daughter race at 200 meters will give her a taste of competition that will carry over to the last 30 seconds of a XC race or a 1500-3000 meter track race. This really works. It doesn't matter where she finishes in summer 200 meter races. The idea is she will know how to RACE for 200 meters, not just hang on. That competitive training will kick in whether it's in a pure 200 meter race or the 200 meter race at the end of running XC. Good luck, Coach Ed Send your questions to: goodrow@infionline.net. Ed Poirier, "Coach Ed", recently was invited by the United States Olympic committee to attend a workshop and training seminar at the Olympic training center in California.