After Leaving the Sports Circle, I Became a Cooking God (Completed BL)

Chapter 8 - Suspicions and Tensions within the Coaching Team

Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 08/27/2023

The state of athletic competition is a comprehensive state that athletes enter into to achieve optimal performance. It is closely related to various factors such as an athlete's mental state during competition, physical condition, training history over a period of time, and their skill level.

For coaches, before the start of a competitive season with clear goals and events, they develop an annual training plan for athletes based on their training history and their assessment of the athletes' current condition. The aim is to bring the athletes' competitive state to its peak during major events.

The competitive state is not permanent; just like how regular people cannot maintain a state of concentration indefinitely, athletes' competitive states can also fluctuate. Some athletes struggle to regain their peak competitive state after a period of decline, making it difficult to replicate their best performance.

For example, consider the only domestic athlete, Fang Yu, who broke the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters a couple of years ago during a world athletics challenge. He achieved a remarkable time of under 10 seconds, entering the 9-second range. However, his performance declined after that, and he struggled to regain his best competitive state. Over the next couple of years, he failed to break the 10-second barrier again. The "Asian Miracle" that once thrilled the continent became a fleeting phenomenon. Some even started to doubt whether an Asian athlete could ever achieve a sub-10-second 100-meter sprint again.

As Su Bai looked at the "buff" effects displayed under the names of Wang Shen, Cui Luoheng, and Qiu Wen, he noticed that these buffs had countdown timers similar to the "Primary Associated User Duration." At the moment, the effect of eating food and the effect of associating with primary users appeared to be the same.

Su Bai wasn't sure whether there would be food buffs that could last for a longer time or if these buffs could stack with other training-related buffs. Since he had only acquired the system recently, there were still many aspects he hadn't fully grasped.

Unaware of Su Bai's thoughts, Qiu Wen, Wang Shen, and Cui Luoheng focused on finishing their fish soup and noodles, leaving nothing behind.

On the slightly chilly night of spring, savoring a warm and fragrant bowl of tofu and fresh fish soup was a wonderful experience. Whether it was Qiu Wen, Wang Shen, or Cui Luoheng, all three were fully satisfied. Qiu Wen even tried to use his advantage as a roommate to extract more soup from Su Bai, but the unyielding Su Bai did not give in to his request.

After this night's supper, the next day, Su Bai arrived at the third-floor kitchen early in the morning and began his tasks according to Sun Xiangdong's instructions. Over the next week, Su Bai had become proficient in the kitchen. Sun Xiangdong began entrusting him with the preparation of about half of the nutritional meals, gradually earning Su Bai the nickname of the "Third-Floor Kitchen God" and spreading his reputation throughout the S Province team.

Even Zhao Heping had heard of this widely spread name, and of course, it was Qiu Wen, who shared a dormitory with Su Bai, that spread the name of Su Bai to him.

In the past week, Qiu Wen's training state had improved, and his overall competitive state seemed to have exceeded expectations in the eyes of Zhao Heping. So, Zhao Heping had a separate chat with Qiu Wen to understand if there were any additional factors contributing to his improved state. This was a routine part of a coach's job—to have a thorough understanding of the athletes they were responsible for.

Qiu Wen himself felt that his performance had been good during this period, whether it was training or anything else. As an athlete who needed to have precise control over his body, he sensed the improvement in his state.