Chapter Forty-Nine: The Art of Navigating Curves

However, the news about the Wintergreen Meet had not yet been released. Before he was absolutely certain, Lu Jinrong would not tell his disciple. So, faced with Rousseau’s request, Lu Jinrong thought for a moment, then agreed, but advised Rousseau to be cautious—he mustn’t slack off, not even for the 100 meters.

Lu Jinrong began to explain the techniques for running the 200 meters to Rousseau, and also had the team members demonstrate several times for him.

In fact, with the assistance of the status panel, Rousseau possessed what was essentially an infallible encyclopedia of sports. Theoretically, he was unbeatable; the challenge lay in integrating theory with his physical abilities.

The 200 meters was not simply twice the distance of the 100 meters. The first critical difference was the curve. Since the official track was 400 meters long, the 200-meter race inevitably involved running a bend. The key was how to maintain speed—or even miraculously accelerate—while navigating the curve.

The second challenge was stamina management. The 100 meters demanded explosive power; you could charge forward recklessly, and even if you faltered in the last 20 meters, inertia would carry you through. But no human could sustain that level of exertion for the entire 200 meters. Endurance and energy allocation became crucial techniques.

“When entering the curve, control your center of gravity, pay attention to your posture, tilt slightly left, keep your right shoulder higher than your left, swing your right arm more vigorously. Imagine yourself as a motorcycle—don’t speed up or slow down. Your pace will inevitably drop, so be prepared to accelerate once you exit the curve…”

On the track.

Rousseau repeatedly practiced the curve technique under Lu Jinrong’s watchful eye.

Presently, only Rousseau and Tian Shiwei enjoyed Lu Jinrong’s undivided, personal coaching. No one else felt it was unfair; the world of sports belonged to the strong. Without results, words were meaningless.

All morning, Rousseau practiced entering and running the curve dozens of times.

With both the status panel and Lu Jinrong’s guidance, some of his movements were still imperfect—after all, mastery required thousands of repetitions—but at least he was steadily moving in the right direction.

“Coach, let me try a formal run,” Rousseau proposed before the morning session ended.

“Wang Peng, come run with Rousseau,” Lu Jinrong called for an opponent. A formal run meant the timer would be set and a competitor would run alongside.

“I’ll do it!” Tian Shiwei raised his hand, eager.

“You always want in!” Lu Jinrong scolded Tian Shiwei dismissively, but allowed it.

Tian Shiwei limbered up, stood on the starting line, and looked confidently at Rousseau. “Old Lu, I’m going to crush you!”

“Such big talk—I thought you won the 200-meter gold at the provincial games,” Rousseau retorted.

“I was just exhausted!” Tian Shiwei argued. “Otherwise, I’d have clinched the gold easily.”

“Too bad you only got two silver medals in individual events…” Rousseau mused.

Tian Shiwei gritted his teeth in frustration. Wasn’t it because of Rousseau that he only got two silvers?

“Ready!” the coach called.

Rousseau and Tian Shiwei assumed their starting positions.

At that moment, Rousseau recalled Tian Shiwei’s silver-winning time in the provincial 200 meters: 21.45 seconds.

A bit slow for Tian Shiwei—he must have spent too much energy competing in the morning’s 100 meters with Rousseau, leaving him depleted for the afternoon’s 200-meter final.

In his normal condition, Tian Shiwei should run the 200 meters in about 21.40 seconds, which was first-tier athlete level. Of course, in regular races, Tian Shiwei rarely showed his true form, so his times were slower.

“Go!”

Rousseau and Tian Shiwei took off. Tian Shiwei was slightly faster and pulled ahead, increasing his lead over Rousseau.

The 200 meters started on a curve, and Tian Shiwei, who had trained the curve technique more, gained an early advantage. By the time they reached the straightaway, he was two body lengths ahead of Rousseau, whose real acceleration only kicked in then.

But it was too late.

Tian Shiwei crossed the finish line first, Rousseau just behind, separated by about three or four body lengths—a huge gap of roughly 0.2 seconds.

The times were Tian Shiwei: 21.50 seconds; Rousseau: 21.75 seconds—quite poor results.

Lu Jinrong scratched his head at the sight.

At times, Rousseau and Tian Shiwei were truly a pair of unlucky rivals.

If one did poorly, the other couldn’t do well either.

Tian Shiwei’s performance depended on his opponent.

Rousseau, though steady, sometimes inexplicably plateaued at a low point—steadily progressing, but never quite returning to his record-breaking form.

For instance, after setting a new provincial record with a 10.49-second 100 meters, his times continued to hover just under 11 seconds, steadily improving, but it was unclear when he would return to 10.49.

Rousseau’s poor performance dragged Tian Shiwei’s down too. Watching them both finish the 200 meters outside 21.50, Lu Jinrong suddenly doubted his plan to send them to the Wintergreen Meet. Was he just sending them to lose?

“Old Lu, you really need to step up—I crushed you without even trying!” Tian Shiwei jabbed.

Rousseau ignored him, flipping through his status panel records. He noticed something: his "acceleration" skill had been interrupted.

The panel showed several entries: “You used the ‘acceleration’ skill,” “You used the ‘acceleration’ skill”—as if he kept reactivating it each time.

Repeated activation meant the skill had been interrupted.

An interrupted skill meant no stacked speed.

Without stacked speed, Rousseau was running entirely on his own physical ability, without the benefit of “technique.”

That explained his 22.50-second run.

“Technical movements were off…” Rousseau pondered.

It was easy to understand—like stalling a car. If you shifted wrong or pressed the wrong pedal, the engine would shut down.

The panel’s “skills” could be interrupted so easily, which Rousseau had not expected. They weren’t as miraculous as he’d hoped…

“I need more practice,” Rousseau told himself.

So Rousseau kept training.

Kept training.

In the days that followed,

Aside from essential strength and fitness workouts to boost his attributes, Rousseau devoted all his time and energy to practicing the curve technique for the 200 meters.

In the morning, Lu Jinrong saw Rousseau practicing starts and curves; in the evening, he saw him doing the same. The intensity and focus gave off an almost obsessive air.

Tian Shiwei occasionally trained with Rousseau. For Tian Shiwei, however, these techniques were somewhat basic, so he mostly hung around, nitpicking Rousseau’s form.

Tonight, under the dark sky, on the track, Rousseau finished 200 sets of starts, exhausted. Tian Shiwei called him to dinner.

“Let’s send Old Zhu off while we’re at it,” Tian Shiwei said.