Image from markus42 on Flickr

Olympic short track skating gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno on the Manitou Incline:

You can’t necessarily run the entire way up. I would love to watch someone do that. It’s just these railroad ties that are staked into the ground all the way up. It’s a very, very mean workout. No matter how far you go, whether you walk it or run it, it’s going to hurt bad. But for a speed skater it’s worth it. It’s all lower body. I used to bike there twice a week from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, run it, and ride back. It was a staple of my training for many years.  – via Runner’s World

Mean, indeed.  If an Olympic athlete thinks it’s a grueling lower-body workout, you should feel pretty good if you’ve been able to do the Incline yourself.  (I haven’t.)

Thanks to our friend Melissa for the link!

[carrie]