Kitasan Black's ears visibly drooped even lower at Yasui's comment, but she quickly pulled herself back together.
"All right! If my form didn't meet your expectations, Trainer, I'll just keep running until it does—"
Before she could finish speaking, she'd already turned toward the track again.
Yasui hurriedly called out, stopping her.
"Don't rush, Kitasan-san—and there's no need to feel down about it."
"Didn't I just say it's perfectly normal for beginners?"
"The issue is, your sprint just now used your usual running form, not the one I explained before we started training."
Kitasan blinked in surprise. "Eh…really?"
Yasui mimicked the sprinting posture she'd used a moment ago.
"Look—your posture was upright, taking large strides forward."
"This posture suits sustained, long-distance sprinting, matching your stamina and habits perfectly."
"When running like this, your body gradually lowers under inertia once you reach a certain speed, shortening your strides. Similarly, your arm movements gradually shrink, and your breathing quickens."
He then demonstrated another stance.
"But this position is what you need for explosive, short-distance sprinting."
"Right now, your goal is to leverage the parachute's resistance to shift more quickly into this second form."
"But don't stress yourself out; it'll take some time to adapt."
"I'll stay with you through the entire process."
"Once you're comfortable, we'll move on to the next step."
Kitasan pondered carefully, comparing Yasui's words to how her sprint had felt earlier. She nodded thoughtfully, clenching her fists with determination.
"Oh, I see... My usual sprint feels more comfortable for pushing through at the end of races."
"So…let me try again, the way you just showed me, Trainer!"
"Good, prepare yourself again."
Smiling, Yasui walked toward the parachutes lying on the track.
Kitasan's adaptation process lasted through the morning session. By the afternoon training after classes, she'd grasped the essentials of parachute sprinting.
Just as she felt she could continue further, Yasui stopped her.
"Eh—are we stopping already?"
Reluctantly unfastening her harness, Kitasan bit her lip. "Trainer, I feel like I still have energy left for more…"
Yasui chuckled lightly.
"You do have plenty of stamina left, so we'll use it for other exercises."
He was fully aware of his Uma Musume's physical condition.
However, ample energy didn't mean she should exhaust herself on a single exercise.
Parachute sprinting mainly targeted leg and core strength. While it involved some upper-body use, the intensity was insufficient for balanced development.
After guiding her through routine cruising, cornering, and high-step exercises, Yasui took Kitasan to the academy's gym.
This was the ideal place to improve upper-body strength and ensure overall balanced training.
Upper-body exercises had always been part of Kitasan's training regimen, and after three months of steady improvement, it was time to increase the intensity.
Upon entering, Yasui noticed several Uma Musume already exercising, some accompanied by their trainers.
As a relatively new trainer at Central Tracen Academy, he knew few people and hadn't planned to pay attention to others' workouts.
Yet, seeing two familiar figures among them, his attention unconsciously lingered.
A long-haired Uma Musume with chestnut hair fading to brown was instructing another with short black hair, who was currently performing dumbbell bench presses.
Air Groove-san...? And Duramente? Strange—where's Duramente's trainer? Why is Air Groove-san guiding her...?
While Yasui pondered, Kitasan also noticed the two Uma Musume.
"Oh? Air Groove-senpai? And Duramente-san…?"
"Hm, I remember Duramente is your classmate, isn't she?" Yasui unconsciously asked, pulling back his gaze.
"She is, but we don't really talk," Kitasan scratched her head thoughtfully. "Duramente-san always seems rather distant… I've never seen her particularly close to anyone."
"Oh, come to think of it," she continued, "there was that one time when I went to karaoke with Crown-chan and Dia-chan, and we ran into Air Groove-senpai and Duramente-san."
She glanced at Yasui. "That was when you suggested I try singing 'Uchiage Hanabi.'"
"I see…" Yasui murmured thoughtfully.
In his memory, he'd seen Duramente training here or at the track before, but always accompanied by her own trainer.
Over the past month or so, Air Groove had started appearing alongside Duramente, while the trainer had been around less often.
Today, the trainer hadn't even shown up yet—it was Air Groove who had accompanied Duramente.
He hadn't paid much attention before, but recalling now, he remembered that Air Groove and Duramente belonged to the same family group.
Perhaps Duramente's trainer had other obligations, and Air Groove had stepped in temporarily as a substitute.
Compared to most trainers, Air Groove's guidance skills were top-tier.
Nicknamed "Empress" in the industry, Air Groove had been an outstanding racer during her active career, and had even served as vice president of Tracen Academy's Student Council.
During her tenure, she'd personally supervised the training of several exceptional Uma Musume, such as Admire Vega and Rule Supreme, achieving remarkable results.
Given these factors, perhaps Duramente's family—or Duramente herself—had specifically requested Air Groove's assistance.
However, Yasui kept these thoughts to himself. The situation with trainers wasn't something for Kitasan to worry about. Quickly refocusing, he gently patted Kitasan's head, directing her attention toward the strength-training area.
"All right, don't worry about others—let's concentrate on our own training."
But before starting, Yasui glanced playfully at Kitasan's legs and teased lightly:
"So, how about it—do you think you can still run now?"
"Eh, right now?"
Kitasan, busy curiously inspecting the gym equipment, looked up in confusion, instinctively lifting one leg slightly.
"Hmm... I suppose I'm feeling a bit tired…my legs feel heavier than usual..."
"That's exactly as intended."
Yasui nodded, explaining patiently, "Your training so far has always been structured into groups."
"Simply put, exercises are categorized into static and dynamic; non-fatigue and fatigue; strength-focused, speed-focused, endurance-focused; anaerobic and aerobic."
"The order of training each day also follows this pattern."
"The intensity you've handled so far was roughly twenty percent above the average—exactly what I thought was ideal."
"But from now on, your intensity will rise another twenty percent, with additional variations in exercises."
"For instance, today's earlier training focused primarily on your legs, so now we'll concentrate on upper-body exercises."
"This ensures that tomorrow, you'll be able to train muscles that were rested today, while today's exercised muscles can recover."
"Try to remember this sequence and the reasoning behind it."
"But even if you can't, it's fine—I'll manage everything properly."