After Self-Discipline Made Me Unstoppable, My Ex-Girlfriend Regretted It in Tears - Chapter 5:

Chapter 5: The Beautiful Woman Is Drunk.

“Bro, how long have you been running? Your gear looks decent, but isn’t your running form a bit off?”

“Bro, you don’t mind me filming you, right? I’m recording a video for Douyin.”

“My Douyin account is Magic Capital Dream Runner—Ji Ziyang. Not sure if you’ve seen it.”

“Hey, why are you speeding up again?”

Having someone chattering nonstop in his ear was getting a bit annoying.

When Li Bai reached the final kilometer, he couldn’t help but increase his cadence again, pushing his body toward its limits.

At the same time, he wanted to shake off this overly talkative guy.

Ji Ziyang’s rhythm was instantly disrupted. By the time he hesitated over whether to follow, Li Bai had already pulled more than 10 meters ahead.

At last, Li Bai’s ears found some peace.

Gate No. 2, the finish point, gradually came into view ahead.

“Come on! Let’s go all out!”

For some reason, the further he ran, the more excited his mind became.

In the final 200 meters, he launched into a frenzied sprint.

“Huff, huff!”

After completing the 10 km, Li Bai pressed the stop button on his sports watch before collapsing to sit on the ground.

“37 minutes 40 seconds…”

He lowered his head to look at the watch, then tilted his head back, gasping heavily.

He was exhausted.

That final burst had pushed him so hard it felt like his lungs were about to explode. Even now, there was a faint metallic taste in his throat.

Just as Li Bai closed his eyes to recover, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.

Ji Ziyang only glanced at the watch.

“Bro, so you were running 10 km! That burst at the end got my blood pumping.”

“But 37:40 for 10 km—that’s a solid pace.”

He added another condition, “Among amateur runners, that is.”

“Amateur?” Li Bai finally caught his breath and asked in confusion.

“It means non-professional. Regular running enthusiasts.”

“How can you tell I’m an amateur runner?”

Hearing this, Ji Ziyang rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Obvious?”

“Don’t think wearing a pair of 160X 3.0 Pro shoes makes you anything other than an amateur.”

“Your running form is off. Honestly, it’s worse than amateur. Plenty of people who’ve run for a few years have much better form.”

Li Bai didn’t argue. After thinking for a moment, he asked sincerely, “Then what’s the correct way to run?”

“Like this. Watch me.”

Ji Ziyang stood sideways and demonstrated.

Though he talked a lot, his intentions were good.

Afraid Li Bai wouldn’t understand, he patiently explained every detail.

“When we run, we don’t rely on the calves to generate power. You need to shift your awareness and let your thighs drive the movement.”

“Your landing point should be close to your center of gravity. Don’t overstride.”

“You’re landing too far forward. That creates a braking effect and puts a lot of strain on your body.”

“…”

He went on and on, even explaining arm swing in detail.

Finally, he smiled and gave Li Bai, who had just regained enough strength to stand, a simple exercise.

“You can try a stationary run. It’s similar to high knees.”

“But the force application is different, and you need to focus on pulling your heel toward your glutes.”

Li Bai followed his instructions and practiced.

Sure enough, it felt different.

His running movement became much lighter.

“If you want to correct your form, you can do this exercise before every run. Once you find the feeling, then start running.”

Seeing how quickly Li Bai picked it up, Ji Ziyang gave him an approving thumbs-up.

“So after that, I can go run a marathon, right?”

Li Bai’s sudden question made Ji Ziyang stumble in surprise.

“A marathon? You want to run a marathon?”

Ji Ziyang looked at him with a strange expression.

From watching Li Bai just now, he had already judged him to be a complete beginner.

His physical condition might be good, but he definitely hadn’t run much before.

And now this rookie wanted to run a marathon straight away?

“Yeah, I saw online that if you can run 10 km under 39 minutes, with a pace around 4 minutes 15 seconds per kilometer, you can finish a full marathon under 3 hours.”

Li Bai’s words left Ji Ziyang stunned.

This rookie not only wanted to run a marathon—he wanted to break 3 hours!

Ji Ziyang glanced at his phone, which he was still holding for recording, and hesitated whether to turn it off.

If this got posted online, Li Bai would be laughed at by runners everywhere.

“Bro, that idea is a bit wild! You’re talking about the Daniels’ formula, right?”

“To break 3 hours in a marathon, you need to run 10 km under 39 minutes, a half marathon under 126 minutes, and maintain around 300 km of monthly mileage.”

“But those are progressive requirements! It doesn’t mean just because you ran 10 km in 39 minutes, you can directly break 3 hours in a marathon.”

“And a full marathon isn’t just four 10 km runs added together. It’s much harder than you think!”

“You’ve just started long-distance running. Forget breaking 3 hours—even finishing the race is unlikely right now!”

Ji Ziyang said, half amused, half helpless.

“I see. Then how can I run a marathon well? How can I achieve a time under 2 hours 30 minutes, or even faster?”

Li Bai’s question made Ji Ziyang roll his eyes again.

“I haven’t even broken 2:30 myself. My PB is 2:49.”

“PB? Does that mean 2 hours 49 minutes?”

“Yeah, PB stands for personal best.”

Ji Ziyang tried to advise him, “For amateur runners, blindly chasing something like 2:30 doesn’t mean much.”

“People run for enjoyment, and to keep improving their personal best, pushing their own limits.”

“If you want to improve, or first figure out how to train so you can finish a marathon, I can give you some advice.”

“Thank you!” Li Bai glanced at the time. It was almost dinner time.

“Brother Ji, how about we grab a meal? My treat. We can talk while eating.”

Ji Ziyang laughed and patted his shoulder. “No need to be so polite. I’ll treat you. Meeting is fate.”

Ji Ziyang was a warm and generous person.

After Li Bai took a shower and changed clothes, he took him out for barbecue.

During the meal, he shared everything he knew and even added Li Bai on WeChat, sending him a complete and detailed training plan.

“Li Bai, your physical condition is really good. Just starting out, and you already ran 10 km in under 38 minutes.”

“With more training—building aerobic endurance, working on intervals—you’ll definitely be able to run a full marathon.”

“As for results, don’t worry about them at the beginning. Adjust and improve step by step based on your performance.”

Ji Ziyang had high hopes for Li Bai. As they talked, he smiled and extended an invitation.

“Do you want to train with our club? Our Jiabaomeng Running Team has both professional and amateur groups. If you improve, we might even become teammates someday!”

Li Bai was tempted, but he still shook his head. “I can’t, Brother Ji. I’m not based in Magic Capital. I can’t train with you guys.”

“You’re not from Magic Capital?” Ji Ziyang asked in surprise.

“Yeah, I’m from Jiang City. I came here for a visit. I’m heading back tomorrow—I still have to go to work.”

Ji Ziyang understood. After all, very few runners could afford to go fully professional.

Even he wasn’t truly professional—his level was still not high enough. At best, he was half-professional.

He mostly earned money by posting videos on Douyin and doing some product promotions.

“Alright then. We’ve added each other on WeChat, so we’re brothers now! If you have any questions about running, just ask me anytime.”

Ji Ziyang patted Li Bai on the shoulder, and the two parted ways at the restaurant entrance.

…

When Li Bai had gone out for his run, the sun was still shining brightly.

By the time he returned to the hotel, night had already fallen, and the lights glittered everywhere.

The Bund at night was truly beautiful.

But unfortunately, Li Bai had just gone through a breakup here yesterday.

He had no mood to join the lively crowd outside the hotel to admire the light show.

Just as he was about to walk into the hotel, he unexpectedly saw a “familiar” figure.

“I don’t want to… don’t take me away…”

The beautiful woman who had stayed in the room next to his at noon seemed completely drunk.

She was being held up by a man in a suit, stumbling as he tried to take her into an alley beside the hotel.