Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 198 Impatience
According to the plan of Kitahara and others, Inari's "rhythm adaptation training" looks like a "relay race" as a whole.

With one lap of the Chukyo race track as one stage, she needs to keep running laps, while Oguruma and other horse girls will "lead", "run side by side" or "catch up" in each stage respectively.

The horse girls in the team are good at different running styles and are used to using different tactics.

Under this arrangement, Inari may have to face Altan Mejiro who is in the lead in the previous lap, but his opponent in the next lap may be Oguruma who is good at taking the lead and running poorly.

Taking into account the physical energy consumed by the practice, the intensity of the practice was not high at the beginning, and the speed was carried out according to the normal training level.

After a certain period of adaptation, the length of each stage was shortened, and other horse girls ran along for a few hundred meters.

At this point, the entire practice looked more like a relay race.

When Inari completed this exercise, Kitahara and other trainers recorded and analyzed various data beside the track.

Not long after the training started, Komiya took the East Sea Emperor and the others to train on the other side, leaving Kitahara and Yusuhara alone by the runway.

"It seems that this running style with changing rhythm has a great impact on speed."

Looking at the data on the recording board in his hand, relying on his long-term accumulated experience, Yuhara quickly discovered some not-so-good situations, and he couldn't help but frown.

"At the beginning of this training, the speed was fine, but after changing the rhythm a few times, Inari's performance became obviously unstable."

"Especially now that there are three or four speed changes in a whole journey, her condition is becoming more and more unstable."

"If we participate in the Takamatsunomiya Cup in this situation, there will be too many variables, Kitahara brother..."

He stared at the runway for a while, then turned to look at Kitahara.

As he said, at this moment on the track of Chukyo Stadium, Inariichi's condition was not very good.

On the one hand, they have been training for quite a while, and not only Inari, but also her sparring partners are a little tired at the moment. In this state, their speed is slower than usual.

On the other hand, since there was a new opponent every few hundred meters, and the running style and tactics used by the opponent were different from the previous one, Inariichi's switching seemed a bit hesitant.

The most obvious manifestation of this busyness is speed. Judging from the recorded data, after changing her opponent, both her speed and top speed continued to decline.

But unlike Yuuhara who was somewhat worried, Kitahara was still relatively optimistic.

"Don't worry so much yet, Yuhara."

After saying this to comfort him, he looked at the data in his hand and pondered for a moment, "I don't think this situation will happen in the Takamatsu Palace Cup."

"You know, when we first discussed this kind of training, the standard was based on the most extreme situation."

"In real life, there is absolutely no horse girl who can constantly switch running styles and tactics in the same race like we designed."

"So rather than letting Inari fully adapt to this situation, it's better to let her be mentally prepared."

"Moreover, she was able to maintain a certain level of strength even in this most extreme situation, and after adapting to a certain extent, she was able to return to her normal level. By the time of the Takamatsunomiya Cup, she won't have to worry too much."

What Kitahara said was exactly the original purpose of the team.

It is actually impossible for a horse girl or a competition to constantly change running styles and tactics.

For every race, even with the same venue and opponents, the horse racing ladies' preparation ideas will not be exactly the same. However, in the same race, such preparation ideas will be confirmed before the race.

The basis for this preparation strategy comes from the race conditions on the day, the actual condition of the horse girls and the special training before the race. These prerequisites will limit the choice of running tactics.

With the restrictions, it is not a free thing even if you want to play.

In this way, Inari's current training is more about trying to adapt to various possibilities than determining the opponent's situation.

Moreover, the most noteworthy opponent in the Takamatsunomiya Cup is not the player who is good at switching lanes freely.

"Yuzhoumeng's strength lies in her unique defensive tactics, which we can see clearly in her past game records."

Kitahara pondered, "Especially in the Oaks Tournament, her tactic worked very well and affected the opponent's condition."

"Neither the horse girls here nor the horse girls I usually practice with are good at marking tactics."

"So from another perspective, arranging this kind of training for Inari is also intended to imitate that kind of marking."

"It's a kind of training that I have to do."

"Once she can initially adapt to the current rhythm change, we will arrange for Xiaolimao and the others to target her position and change the sparring method again."

In Umamusume, “marking” is a very special and risky tactical choice.

Such a tactic means that the athletes need to designate a single opponent, give up considering other opponents to a certain extent, and even give up most other situations in the game, and race towards the target.

This kind of targeting will greatly affect the target's state, especially when the target himself is under game pressure or is not so calm, the marking tactics will have an effect that ordinary people can hardly imagine.

In Kitahara's memory, this tactic has appeared in many well-known competitions.

For example, two scenes were mentioned very clearly in the original anime.

One was the Takarazuka Memorial in 99, and the other was the Emperor's Spring Viewing in 93.

Before the 99 Takarazuka Kinen, most viewers believed that the team would win the championship again in the Takarazuka Kinen after having just won the Special Week at the Emperor's Spring Viewing.

The Special Week camp thought so too at the time, and even before the game started, the camp had already planned that after the victory of the Takarazuka Kinen, they would arrange a Special Week overseas expedition to participate in the Arc de Triomphe Award.

However, it was in this Takarazuka Kinen that Tezuka Suzu lost to Kusagami Hi. That match was also the source of the famous scene in the anime, "Today's Tezuka is not my opponent."

Of course, from a historical perspective, it seems that Zhou is no match for Cao Shangfei every time he meets him.

Specifically in the competition, in the Takarazuka Kinen match, Kusanagi Hi's obvious defensive tactics also played a very important role.

That defensive move was very obvious both in the historical video and in the anime interpretation.

Special Week remained in the 4th or 5th place at the start of the season, while Grasshopper was in the 6th place, and the latter almost always followed Special Week in the subsequent schedule.

At the last bend, although Zhou Tebian took the lead in sprinting and once widened the distance between him and Cao Shangfei, Cao Shangfei then overtook him in the last 200 meters with three waves of speed, the fastest in the whole field.

Such a tactic is certainly risky when viewed alone, but considering Zhou's strong performance before the game, keeping a close eye on such an opponent and accumulating strength to overtake is a reasonable choice.

Similarly, in the 93 Emperor's Spring Festival, the competition between Mejiro McQueen and Miyu also involved marking. Comparing this memory, Kitahara felt that in this Takamatsu Palace Cup, he had to assume that the core idea of ​​Cosmic Dream was to mark Inari Ichi, and prepare based on this premise.

You have to know that Yongshi's current reputation is quite loud, and the horse girls in the team are strong enough, so it is very likely that he will be paid special attention by the opponents.

"Change the way of sparring..."

Kitahara's analysis had been discussed within the team before, and Yusuhara knew what he was talking about. After pondering over his words, Yusuhara looked at the runway and thought:
"Now that we have completed the overall adaptation, would you like to consider targeted sparring, Brother Kitahara?"

It is obvious that Yusuhara's idea is to advance the training process, but Kitahara also looked at the condition of the runway and thought it was time to make further arrangements.

"Yeah, that's fine. Then Xiao Li Mao and the others can take a break and let Xiao Yu come."

After thinking for a moment, Kitahara quickly confirmed Inari's next sparring partner and shouted towards the track:

"Okay, the training can come to an end now. Little Kurimao, Little Bay, Aldan, you can take a break first."

"Inari, Tama, prepare for a 2000-meter practice race."

With Yongshi's long-term training, the horse racing girls adapted to the arrangements very early. After hearing Kitahara's instructions, they quickly rested for a while, replenished some water, and completed their preparations as required.

"2000 meters! Grass! Good track! Turn left! Preparation for the test match..."

Like a conditioned reflex, upon hearing Kitahara's shout, Tamamo Cross and Inari's expressions suddenly became serious, and they looked forward at the same time and assumed a starting position.

And it seemed that it had turned from simple training into a training match, but their eyes were not all fixed on the front, and the corners of their eyes were still fixed on each other.

As they stared at each other, the aura of the two men continued to rise. One of them seemed to be gradually wrapped in white lightning, while the other seemed to be surrounded by an invisible storm.

In a trance, Kitahara felt as if the two horse racing girls in front of him had suddenly grown huge, and for a moment he even forgot to give the start signal.

Fortunately, he finally reacted.

"Start!"

Suddenly, wind and thunder arose, and the streaking white lightning and violent hurricane instantly blew up the sand and gravel on the ground, rushing towards the track like two beasts out of the gate.

Unlike ordinary training, when facing such a training match, both Kitahara and Yusuhara had clearer ideas and their observations were more careful and methodical, and the two horse girls on the field performed better.

They all ran in the way they were best at.

Tamamo Cross has not participated in many middle-distance events, but the running method she chooses can completely make up for the problem of adaptability.

She chose to go first.

It may sound a bit strange that only two horse girls are talking about "going first", but in fact, there is a clear difference between "escaping" and "going first".

The "escape" running style requires exchanging stability in the later stage for a lead in the early stage. From the beginning, you have to use an extremely physically demanding running method. Your breathing rhythm, arm swing frequency, stride, etc. are obviously shorter and more powerful.

Only in the middle stage of the game will they slow down significantly to accumulate energy and wait for the final stage to burst out again.

Tamamo Cross's running posture was not that exaggerated. She was obviously deliberately suppressing her speed, imagining that there was a "leader" in front of her.

This behavior sounds a bit strange. After all, it seems a bit redundant to "imagine" an opponent when there is no opponent.

But with past experience, the members of the Eternal Team are well aware that "virtual practice" is a daily necessity for any competition.

All competitive victories are achieved not by tactics devised on the spot, but by good habits developed in daily life.

In other words, competitive players must get used to having an opponent around them in normal times, and then assume how "that opponent" will act and how they will react. Only in this way can they instinctively make the most correct choice in all situations during the real competition.

For example, in "Sanda", if you imagine how "that opponent" will punch and how you will dodge and counterattack, then when the exact same situation occurs in the game, your reaction speed will be greatly improved and your chances of winning will be greater.

The same thing is what Tamamo Cross is doing at this moment. She is pretending that there is a "leader" in front of her, and then every move she makes simulates a real game.

Use the "leader" to block the wind, constantly adjust the pace to keep up with the "opponent", and occasionally try to move forward a few steps to put pressure on the "opponent"...

If there really was a horse racing girl leading in front of her, then the opponent would definitely feel doubled pressure because of Tamamo Cross's actions. If she has little experience or a bad mentality, it is possible that she would even be dragged down by the pressure.

"Xiaoyu is very adaptable. She has just trained and can complete a training match of this level..."

Nodding secretly at Tamamo Cross's running style, Kitahara couldn't help but frown when looking at Inari.

"In comparison, Inari... your running style right now is too rough, isn't it?"

The corresponding running method is "rough". The "imaginary training" method similar to Tamamo Cross is very delicate and fully demonstrates its various advantages.

For example, the upper body of Tamamo Cross is very straight.

If there is no one in front, she will suffer extra wind resistance, but if there is someone in front, her 1-meter height will be completely protected by the body in front, saving a lot of physical energy.

More importantly, her posture can reduce some of her height disadvantage, ensuring that her field of vision is wide enough and she can grasp the situation on the field at any time.

In this way, she will be able to grasp the timing more accurately, and when the decisive moment comes, her judgment will be faster and more certain.

Inariichi's running style is not so delicate. She relies entirely on her natural advantage to "chase hard".

She chose the "chase from behind" tactic, which looks somewhat similar to the "centering" tactic, but is more energy-saving. This is reflected in her running posture, where her pace, breathing, arm swing, etc. look "more leisurely".

But "leisurely" does not mean that the horse girls who choose this running style are weak. On the contrary, if we only talk about "strength", these horse girls are all the strongest.

The position of the chasing horse must be at the end of the team for a long time. If you want to overtake at the end or even in the middle, and "squeeze out" from the group of horse racing girls, the "acceleration" must be large enough and the "strength" must be strong enough.

Typical horse chasers like Narita Shirahito and Golden Ship, if only in terms of strength, can be said to be monster-level among horse girls.

Inari Ichiya is also a chasing horse with terrifying strength, but Kitahara feels that the reason why her running style is rough is because she is completely relying on strength to "catch up".

Looking at Inari's slightly deformed running style, Kitahara couldn't help but frown.

Next to him, Yuhara couldn't help but speak out in worry.

"Could it be that your mentality has been affected by the training just now...?"

"Under normal circumstances, Inari wouldn't be so impatient..."

(End of this chapter)