At 5 a.m., a thin morning mist drifted along the seaside, and the pitch-black sky was just beginning to pale with the faint light of dawn.
The entire city was still immersed in deep, sweet sleep.
Only the gentle rustling of waves brushing against the shore accompanied this quiet morning.
No… there was also a string of uneven, rhythmic footsteps breaking the silence.
“Clap clap clap! Break time’s over—the third set of interval runs begins!”
At the front, a man with a red ribbon tied around his head shouted loudly.
“Pick up the pace, everyone! Finish this 800 meters, then we’ll jog to recover!”
“The Jinhai Marathon is coming soon. If you want a new PB on your home turf, run faster!”
“Our Wanlong Running Team has had the best results in all of Jiang City every year. Even if you don’t believe in yourselves, you should believe in me, Zhu Wanlong!”
Under his loud urging, the runners in the group gritted their teeth and pushed their speed higher, as if fueled by adrenaline.
Interval running itself was a form of high-intensity training.
Because during intervals, the pace was often faster than marathon pace—sometimes even close to an all-out 3-kilometer pace.
After finishing a 400-meter or 800-meter interval, runners couldn’t stop. They had to keep jogging as part of their training.
Jogging served as rest. Once they had jogged long enough and recovered, another round of interval running would begin, repeating the cycle.
For professional marathon runners, interval training was already routine.
But for ordinary amateur runners, it was still quite difficult.
It was only the third set, yet many were already wearing expressions of pure suffering.
They gasped for air, shaking their heads, sticking out their tongues, too exhausted to notice that a figure was running toward them from afar.
That figure was none other than Li Bai, out for his early morning run.
Before long, Li Bai caught up to the tail end of the Wanlong Running Team.
Living by the sea really was great.
No traffic interruptions during morning runs, and such a strong running atmosphere.
“Morning,” Li Bai greeted the first female runner who noticed him.
She was so exhausted she was about to fall behind, unable to speak.
Still, she forced a smile and nodded at him.
Runners were generally friendly to one another.
But Zhu Wanlong was an exception.
He was leading at the front, shouting instructions, when he casually glanced back—and immediately spotted Li Bai, who stood out awkwardly among the group.
The Wanlong Running Team all wore matching custom uniforms, printed with bold logos and advertisements in striking red.
Li Bai, on the other hand, wore a common bright blue quick-dry T-shirt.
It was the kind of cheap clothing Zhu Wanlong would never recommend to his trainees, since it brought him no kickbacks.
The moment he saw Li Bai, Zhu Wanlong’s temper flared. He turned and strode straight toward him.
“You’re not one of our Wanlong Running Team members. What are you doing mixed in here? Trying to freeload on our training?”
Li Bai was completely baffled by the sudden outburst.
“Freeload? Aren’t we just running together?”
“Running together? Heh, if you want that, go find those amateur groups.”
“Amateur groups?”
Before Zhu Wanlong could respond, a tall male runner spoke up for him.
“This is the best running team in all of Jiang City. Every year, more than a dozen of our members break 3:30, and some even break 3 hours!”
“We all pay to have Jiang City’s number one runner, Teacher Zhu Wanlong, guide us to new PBs.”
After he finished, a few male runners—who had earlier noticed Li Bai exchanging glances with the female runner and felt annoyed—quickly chimed in.
“You didn’t pay. Why should you get the same treatment as us?”
“Besides, even if you freeload, do you think you can keep up with us?”
“Exactly. These training plans are tailored by Teacher Zhu. Can you handle them? Don’t get dropped and embarrassed!”
Li Bai looked at them, speechless.
He had only followed along on a whim, thinking it would be more fun to run with a group.
Who knew he’d get scolded for no reason…
Forget it.
Later, he decided, he’d stop by the mall and buy a pair of bone-conduction headphones.
Running was a lonely pursuit.
Especially for someone like him, striving to climb higher and chase better results—it was even lonelier.
Then let music keep him company.
Without wasting another word, Li Bai increased his cadence and ran past Zhu Wanlong and the others, his expression calm and indifferent.
Jiang City’s number one?
Never heard of him.
And not interested either.
Just the best in a small city.
The only one worth chasing in his eyes was the best in the world—
Kipchoge, far away in Kenya.
“Damn, Teacher Zhu, he’s trying to drop you!”
The Wanlong Running Team stared in shock as Li Bai overtook them.
“You gonna let that slide? Teacher Zhu, go! Drop him!”
They began to egg him on.
Zhu Wanlong watched Li Bai running away at a steady five-minute-per-kilometer pace, his brows slightly furrowed.
That pace was only around a 3-hour-30-minute marathon level.
As Jiang City’s top runner, with a personal best already under 2 hours 30 minutes, Zhu Wanlong could easily drop Li Bai.
But after a moment, he shook his head.
“Drop him? If I go after him, who’s going to lead your training? Hurry up—100 meters left. Finish this, then recover.”
After completing that interval segment, the Wanlong Running Team slowed down to regain their strength.
At the back, the female runner panted and asked, “Doesn’t he… not look like someone freeloading? His running form looked really good…”
Of course he wasn’t freeloading. He had run off at that pace, leaving them far behind—there was no way he was tagging along.
Even Zhu Wanlong and the male runners who had mocked him realized there might have been a misunderstanding.
But looking at the female runner’s delicate, pretty face, they were unwilling to admit their mistake—let alone praise Li Bai.
“So what if it looks good? I can run at that pace too.”
“Haven’t you seen Teacher Zhu’s videos? When he races, doesn’t he look even better?”
“Speed alone means nothing. A marathon is 42 kilometers. Only scientific training and proper energy distribution lead to improvement.”
They rattled on confidently, leaving the girl confused, nodding vaguely.
…
The small incident didn’t affect Li Bai’s morning run.
By the time he turned back, the bright seaside path was already empty—the Wanlong Running Team had long since disappeared.
“21 kilometers…”
Li Bai stopped his watch and synced the data to the official Paris Olympics website through the app.
He needed to run at least 33 kilometers every day.
His plan was simple—21 kilometers in the morning, and another 12 kilometers at night.
It was very similar to Kipchoge’s training schedule.
The 12 kilometers were nothing for Li Bai at this stage—like eating or drinking water, effortless.
The 21 kilometers, however, carried a bit of challenge. After all, that was a half marathon distance.
But after finishing, his watch showed an average pace of 4 minutes 56 seconds per kilometer.
Almost exactly a five-minute pace.
And he still felt comfortable, as if he had only warmed up and hadn’t truly begun exerting himself.
“It must be the effect of my [Stamina] attribute reaching 9.”
Li Bai felt a surge of satisfaction.
After all, he was only a few free attribute points away from maxing out his [Stamina].
The only question was—what kind of result could he achieve if he ran a full 42-kilometer marathon at full effort?
Unfortunately, he couldn’t test it yet.
He needed to focus on accumulating the 100,000 points for the Paris Olympics.
That meant 10,000 kilometers of running.
Burning himself out prematurely was not an option.
Without a race, he would just keep “slowly” running at a five-minute pace.
Steady and enduring, like a gentle, continuous stream.