[21.6 kilometers.]
[Time: 01:14.16]
[Average pace: 3.43]
Wang Ye sat on the curb and compared the data on his watch with the standards for third, second, and first-level athletes he found on Douyin.
He finally came to a conclusion.
He had completely crushed the second-level athlete's standard, and was only two minutes shy of the first-level athlete's standard.
This terrifying speed of improvement surprised Wang Ye a bit. Just two days ago, he had only just reached the third-level athlete's standard, and now he had made such significant progress?
Wang Ye thoughtfully massaged his swollen and sore calf, feeling as if his energy was boundless. It seemed... he could run another half marathon.
This familiar feeling reminded Wang Ye of the moment when he was about to break through in Tai Chi.
He quickly summoned the attribute panel to check the skill level in the running section.
[Running lv3 (97.23%)]
Just two percent away from breaking through to lv4.
"It really is about to break through!"
Wang Ye immediately sprang to his feet.
Seeing this, he was no longer tired.
The fatigue from just completing a half marathon vanished in an instant.
Imagine trying to resist the urge to brush up your skills when seeing a progress bar about to fill.
Wang Ye took an energy gel from the pocket on his side, tore open the package, and sucked on it, the intensely sweet and sour taste filling his mouth and even his nasal cavity, making him shiver all over.
Soon after, he started jogging along the road again.
Due to the energy depletion from the previous half marathon training, his running speed was not very fast this time, barely maintaining a pace of four minutes, and the skill level increased relatively slowly.
Wang Ye gritted his teeth and ran for half an hour, covering about ten kilometers.
The pair of five hundred-dollar beginner running shoes had lost their elasticity and rigidity due to long-term training wear and tear. The shoes felt terrible, with many scratches and scuffs on the surface; the toe even had a small hole, looking like a war-torn shoe that some running enthusiast had trained in for years.
Wang Ye's soles were also feeling a stabbing pain, and there seemed to be a subtle moist feeling at the nearly numb tips of his toes.
He suspected that his toes must have developed blisters, otherwise it wouldn't hurt so much.
Just as Wang Ye's consciousness was beginning to blur.
Finally.
The panel in front of him changed.
[You practiced running, gained insights, and increased skill level by 2.82%.]
[Your running skill level is now full, upgrading from lv3 to lv4.]
[Running lv4 (0.1%)]
Whew!!!
In that instant, a refreshing breath of air suddenly filled Wang Ye's mouth. Like a car whose fuel tank was about to run empty, refueling and repairing a blown tire with air.
Utterly exhausted, Wang Ye suddenly experienced a second wind, his spirits lifted dramatically, and his muscles were once again filled with energy.
"Huff—puff!"
Wang Ye's stride frequency accelerated greatly, his running speed again increased to a pace of three minutes.
But at this moment, Wang Ye felt no fatigue at all; instead, he was enjoying the pleasure of running like never before. The abundance of running techniques that appeared in his mind naturally transformed into his body's instinct, easing his running burden at least twice over!
The cool wind blowing in front quickly dissipated the accumulated heat in his body, keeping his mind extremely clear.
Wang Ye didn't stop running but kept jogging along the road all the way home.
Not until he reached the entrance of his residential community.
Only then did Wang Ye reluctantly stop running, take the elevator, and return home.
...
...
The next day,
April 29.
Morning.
7:01
Wang Ye had just gotten up and went to the marathon registration point, verified his identity, and collected the number tags, race outfits, and race bags for himself and his parents.
Wang Ye walked out of the registration point, opened the cobalt-blue race bag, inside were a participant's handbook, some sports drinks, salt pills, energy gel, and some small gifts with low value. The race outfit was a simple sports vest with sponsorship logos from Hongxing Erke and various brands.
Seeing these supplies, Wang Ye was slightly shocked, "A hundred-dollar registration fee, and such a luxurious race bag."
Then, Wang Ye carried the race bag and headed home, grabbing breakfast along the way.
He sat in a noodle shop, placing the three large race bags on the chair beside him, slurping on a big bowl of beef noodles while looking at the sleep monitoring record on his watch.
[Total sleep: 5 hours 23 minutes]
[Start and finish time: 1:35-6:58]
"Sleep time has gotten shorter again."
Wang Ye slurped a big mouthful of noodles.
After becoming accustomed over these days, he wasn't actually that bothered by the shortened sleep.
The extra time could be used for entertainment, training, learning, anything he wanted.
Besides, it wouldn't lead to sleep deprivation. Why not enjoy it?
After looking at the sleep monitoring data, Wang Ye turned off the watch screen and checked the evolution result on his panel.
[Physique: 2.9]
[Divine: 1.8]
[Evolution Level: 22.0]
[Continuing evolution, increasing one evolution level a day.]
Perhaps because his running skill reached lv4.
The change in physique today was more noticeable.
Wang Ye could clearly feel his endurance had increased significantly compared to yesterday.
If he were to run another half marathon now, the results should easily crush last night's half marathon data.
Wang Ye slurped another mouthful of noodles.
Unconsciously, the bowl of noodles in front of him had already been finished.
Yet he still felt a subtle hunger.
Wang Ye raised his hand and ordered several servings of beef noodles.
Under the stunned gazes of customers and the shop owner, Wang Ye devoured five large bowls of beef noodles one after another.
Each portion was quite large. A normal grown man would find it challenging to finish one portion.
Yet Wang Ye consumed five portions in one go.
Simply... terrifying.
Wang Ye burped, wiped his mouth, and under the onlookers' eyes viewing him like a monster, he walked serenely out of the noodle shop.
"Physique has clearly increased, appetite has also increased by about twenty percent." Wang Ye mumbled softly, stroking his chin as he walked onto the street.
The sudden surge in appetite was a clear sign, plus considering his running performance last night, his physique data in all areas should have far exceeded that of first-level athletes in various sports projects.
It's important to know, normal athletes specialize in one sports project, and many projects are not interconnected, and may even be mutually exclusive.
There's a saying in the sport field: Long-distance runners are thin like monkeys, sprinters are strong like bulls.
The proverbial fish and bear's paw cannot both be achieved; muscular people inevitably have weaker endurance, while those with strong endurance can't easily build muscle.
Thus, first-level athletes in long-distance running can hardly make achievements in hundred-meter sprinting.
However, Wang Ye is remarkably developing in a balanced, all-around manner.