Mejiro McQueen had been feeling rather smug when suddenly became anxious after hearing what Sakura Baimu said to Tokai Teio.
"Hey! No special treatment allowed!"
"Hey, McQueen, didn't you think my hill-climbing method was useless? Why are you afraid Teiō will learn it?" Sakura Baimu teased.
Mejiro McQueen blushed upon hearing this, turned her face away haughtily, and tossed her long hair, saying, "Do whatever you want, the result will be the same no matter what."
"Okay, Teiō, take a closer look. It's not that difficult. Once you grasp the basic techniques, you can run uphill quickly."
Sakura Baimu handed the "Takarazuka Kinen" guide to Tokai Teio and briefly explained the key points of climbing the hill.
Mejiro McQueen was clearly not that confident. She could clearly feel the slowdown during the two steep inclines, especially the second one. It put a lot of pressure on her heart.
After Sakura Baimu finished speaking to Tokai Teio, she handed the nutritional drink to Mejiro McQueen and teased, "McQueen, if you want to see it, you can take a look now while you still can, otherwise you'll be so embarrassed if you lose later."
"No, there's no need. I don't believe anything you put together in one night can be very effective. Besides, even if it were effective, Teiō hasn't practiced it at all. Do you think she can surpass me just by listening to you talk about it?"
"Fine, then you can stay here and be all smug by yourself." Sakura Baimu shoved the drink into Mejiro McQueen's hand and called out to Teiō beside her.
"Are you done, Teiō?"
"Hmm, I roughly understand the principle, it should work." Tokai Teio held a bound booklet of papers in one hand and took a sip of her nutritional drink in the other. "By the way, Trainer-san, your running style doesn't seem to reduce the stress on my heart much."
"That's right, I have written down the method that puts the least stress on the heart, but I think you two should prioritize speed. This amount of stress might be a considerable burden for other Uma Musumes, but you two can definitely tough it out."
"I understand." Tokai Teio nodded, tilted her head back and finished the nutritional drink in one gulp, feeling full of energy. She looked at Mejiro McQueen, "McQueen, come on."
"Okay." Mejiro McQueen agreed and finished her small bottle of nutritional drink in one gulp.
The two stood on the starting line again, and Sakura Baimu raised the flag once more and then waved it down.
"Start!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen shot out again.
Mejiro McQueen already had experience defeating Tokai Teio once, so she used the same running method again this time.
The distance of 300 meters flew by in the blink of an eye, and Mejiro McQueen had already arrived at the steep slope.
Mejiro McQueen had previously read Sakura Baimu's method for running uphill in the activity room, and she still remembered some of it.
Suddenly, she hesitated.
Should she try to imitate the running method that Sakura Baimu had suggested?
Although Mejiro McQueen likes to tease Sakura Baimu, she actually quite respects Sakura Baimu's abilities as a trainer.
She always felt that without Sakura Baimu, she would never have been able to win the Tennō Shō championship four times in a row.
However, after thinking about it for a moment, she rejected the idea.
After all, she had just said that she was not going to use the running method provided by Sakura Baimu.
If she suddenly changed her mind now, she would probably be teased by Sakura Baimu again later.
After a brief moment of thought, Mejiro McQueen's eyes narrowed. She finally decided to stick to the running method she had just used.
"It's just two slopes. We can catch up on the straights and curves later on with this little bit of speed."
Mejiro McQueen made up her mind, stepped onto the grassy slope, and began to climb.
At the same time, Tokai Teio behind her also stepped onto the lawn.
The running method she had seen on paper before flashed into her mind. She leaned forward slightly, gripped the grass with her toes like hooks, and then pulled her whole body up the slope.
Although she wasn't very familiar with it yet, she could clearly feel that this method of climbing hills was much faster and less strenuous than her usual running.
Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond watching from the sidelines both gasped in surprise as Tokai Teio climbed the slope in a strange posture.
"Miss Teiō's speed going uphill this time is noticeably faster than before!" Satono Diamond said.
"Yes, Miss McQueen was originally about three lengths ahead of Teiō, but she closed the gap by more than half on the first steep slope! Trainer-san's method is so effective!" Kitasan Black exclaimed in amazement.
Mejiro McQueen had reached the top of the hill first and let out a soft breath. The most difficult steep slope was over, and now it was time for her to widen the gap.
She quickly adjusted her pace and rushed towards the bend ahead.
But just as Mejiro McQueen took a step and was about to accelerate, she heard footsteps coming from very close behind her.
She turned her head slightly and was immediately startled, because she found that Teiō had also come up.
Is it really that fast?
Mejiro McQueen was momentarily shocked, but quickly regained her focus and began running forward at a faster pace than planned, attempting to widen the gap between herself and Tokai Teio.
Tokai Teio had narrowed the gap between herself and Mejiro McQueen, so naturally she wouldn't easily let go of the gap she had just made up for.
She also quickened her pace, following closely behind Mejiro McQueen not far behind.
The two quickly completed two turns, and just as they passed behind Sakura Baimu, Sakura Baimu pressed the timer in her hand and chuckled softly.
"This time, the two of them took about 2 seconds faster to get through the second bend than last time."
"Is the pace this fast this time? Is Trainer-san's climbing technique really that good?" Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond exclaimed.
"No, it's because McQueen got a little anxious. After witnessing Teiō's climbing speed, she felt that if she didn't widen the gap on the straights and curves, she might lose, so she sped up beforehand," Sakura Baimu explained.
"Will this create a significant gap?" Satono Diamond wondered.
"It's hard to say about others, but Teiō will definitely not let McQueen pull ahead." Sakura Baimu chuckled. "And speeding up the pace means that she might run out of energy at the end and have difficulty accelerating."
"You'll see, the situation will reverse when we get to the second steep slope."