MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. - It is known as the Cog Trail.

In the 26 months I've lived in Colorado Springs, I've heard plenty about it. I've written stories about wrestlers who have pushed themselves up the steep Incline that starts near the base of Pikes Peak. But I had never experienced it in person.

That changed when I finally made it to the Cog Trail on Saturday, and it was a memorable, interesting and tiring experience.

Denver Post reporter John Meyer and one of their photographers were in town Saturday to do a feature story on our athletes climbing the Cog Trail. I set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. and drove out to meet them just after 8 o'clock in Manitou Springs. The Greco-Roman team was scheduled to do a Cog Trail workout at 8:30.

The Cog Trail is an old railway that goes virtually straight up the side of the mountain. All three styles of our wrestlers - men's and women's freestyle, and Greco-Roman - test their mettle by going up and down the Cog Trail. The workouts typically are done on early Saturday mornings.

The athletes walk about a mile and a half up the Cog Trail, and then either come back down the same way or run down the adjacent Barr Trail.

On Saturday, around a dozen, sleepy-eyed members of our Greco-Roman team gathered at the bottom of the Trail just after 8:30 a.m.

Two wrestlers, Mark Rial and R.C. Johnson, went a short distance up the Trail and then did a series of sprints on the Trail for their workout. The remaining athletes, ranging from World bronze medalist Lindsey Durlacher to young stud Jake Deitchler, walked up to the top and then ran back down.

Standing at the bottom of the Cog Trail and gazing up toward the top is nothing short of intimidating. From the bottom, it looks like there is no possible way you can climb that thing. It goes straight up.

While walking up the Trail alongside Rial, I turned to him and said, "This is crazy."

His response: "I think that every time I come out here."

The Trail is packed on Saturday morning with people of all ages and sizes who are getting in an early-morning workout. There is a certain fraternity and camaraderie among people you pass on the Trail. And a lot of funny comments.

A guy who drove down from Denver on Saturday morning, specifically to scale the Cog, had this comment while trying to catch his breath: "This seemed like a good idea on Tuesday. Now, not so good." At least he could laugh about it.

Another person joked about having his cell phone handy in case anyone needed to dial 9-1-1. Standing near the top of the Cog, and a little out of breath myself, that didn't seem quite as funny.

I had every intention of doing as little climbing as possible. My plan was to assist the Post with their story and provide them access to our athletes. I started out by walking up the Trail a short distance with USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Developmental Coach Ike Anderson, who was putting Rial and Johnson through their sprint workout.

As I was huffing and puffing, Ike, who is a few years older than me, continued to calmly carry on a conversation while sipping coffee as we walked up the Trail. He wasn't even breathing hard in the thin air. I guess that's why he wrestled in the Olympics and I didn't go quite as far in my athletic career.

Once Rial and Johnson completed their sprints, I decided to walk up a little higher to check out the spectacular views that are offered on the Trail. I actually didn't feel too winded, so I continued to go higher and higher. At this point, I figured I might as well go ahead and get a workout in for the day. I was about two-thirds of the way up the Trail when I decided to turn around and go back down.

It took me about 45 minutes to complete the trek. Sitting here right now, about 24 hours after the experience, I can barely feel my legs. My quads and calves are burning. As someone who weighs between 96 and 120 kilos, but closer to 120, I know exactly how our heavyweights must feel doing this workout. It is a grueling trek just trying to walk up this thing. It was a little different than my usual 20-minute run on the treadmill at 24 Hour Fitness. Doing the Cog is a phenomenal, but very challenging, workout.

On the way back down, wrestlers Willie Madison and Marco Lara passed me while running down the mountain trail. Walking seems treacherous enough with all the large wooden railroad ties and loose gravel you have to navigate through, but believe it or not, these guys are running. One wrong step and you might end up barrel-rolling down the mountain. These guys seem to breeze down the hill with the grace of an Olympic gymnast on a balance beam. I'm struggling just to walk back down.

The majority of wrestlers elected to run down the Barr Trail.

Meyer, an avid runner and cyclist who covers Olympic sports for the Post, made it all the way to the top as did his photographer. I was very impressed, especially considering John was carrying a video camera and the photographer had his own camera to take still shots.

Climbing straight up a mountain trail in high altitude is as tough and challenging as it sounds. But as Durlacher was saying after he completed his workout, building your level of endurance on the Cog pays off when you need to dig down deep in the final period of a big match. He is looking for that edge as he tries to make his first Olympic Team this year. Once Durlacher reached the top, he did his own series of sprints before coming back down the Trail.

The weather couldn't have been much better for the workout. The sun was shining, the temperature was in the 60s and there was a light breeze. It was a gorgeous, postcard-type day in the Springs, and snow-covered Pikes Peak couldn't have looked much better. The scenery was breathtaking. It was something to see.

But in true Colorado fashion, the weather took a radical turn for the worse shortly after the wrestlers finished coming down the hill.

The sun ducked behind the clouds, the temperature nose-dived and the wind started howling. Then it started snowing sideways - yes, sideways - as the conditions turned nasty.

But the sun was back out again a short time later, and shortly after that I hopped in my car and headed for home.

As I drove through downtown Manitou Springs, the car in front of me stopped abruptly. Two deer then crossed the street right in front of us. The deer proceeded to just stand on the side of the road as cars slowly rolled past them.

That's Colorado for you. Climbing mountains, seeing it snow on May 10 and witnessing deer wandering the downtown streets of a southern Colorado city. It was kind of a crazy morning, but not that unusual for people who live in this area.

It was an interesting experience, seeing the Cog Trail up close for the first time and actually climbing a majority of it. It definitely gives me an added appreciation for what our athletes go through as they chase their Olympic dreams in 2008.