Friday

Finding Your Way...

I “did” the Incline several weekends ago. The Incline, is a mile long, roughly 1,600 meters, and rises more than 2,000 feet, or 600 meters, in the thin air. The Manitou Springs Incline is a place where you see U.S. Olympic athletes train right next to bearded old men with hiking sticks. It’s a basic, yet punishing workout: Man versus Mountain. Olympic speedskater, Apolo Ohno once said, "It's the one workout where people truly have to face something that is unbeatable. It is you against yourself." After I went on Saturday, I was challenged to go again, the next Monday morning. Standing at the base of the trail at 5 a.m., surrounded by silence, I was ready to be humbled. It was interesting to see people dart up the incline, everyone at their own pace, but all seemed to have one unwritten and unspoken rule – Don’t stop (at least for not too long). An assistant Greco-Roman coach Momir Petkovic from the Olympic Training Center has said, "Forget technology. It comes down to how much you want it. If you're in the middle of nowhere, with nothing, you are going to find your way out. You will find a way to become a champion." The incline is a lot like life, love, your desires, and dreams -- Everyday you start out on the trek, there’s new elements to navigate, new challenges, new accomplishments waiting for you at the top. Don’t stop. It comes down to how much you desire it, when you’re in the middle of nowhere, with nothing, you find your way to becoming a champion. CAP Facebook.com, twitter.com/chrisaperez

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