So once again I was on a plane to the Extremity Games, the X Games for disabled folks, and I was wondering what I'd come up against. I was entered in the bouldering and route comps at Planet Rock in Pontiac MI. The crew of talented climbers always blows me away, and this year did not disappoint. My friend Ronnie was there, he takes great pride in talking smack. He's actually really good at it and I do my best to never address it. Pre-comp he was telling me about his training and how he had every intention of beating me. I, for my part, say nothing. I always figure its better to be quite and let the day take shape, plus, I've never been a good talker. The day started bad in the sense that my phone rang on the drive over, Cyn was informing me that our puppy had been hit by a car and was fine but scared. Not a good beginning. Once there, I always feel better just to be climbing, the time leading up to an event is always worse in my head because I keep thinking to much. Once I tie in and go, I always feel much better. We were given 2 hours to do as many routes as we could, each has a number grade, the harder the climb, the more points given. Having done the comp before, I know how to maximize my time and warm up so I can get the most points I can. At the end of the time, they tally the scores and announce the top five in each category, in this case bouldering and routes. I made the finals in each, which is a fun time because then you go to "iso", where they keep the climbers so they can't watch the others climb the routes. I use the time to chat with friends and hang out, its kinda fun in that sense. When it was my turn, I tied into the first mens final. The walls there are very steep and overhang for most of the way. I watched as my fellow gimp climbers used all the tricks in the book to make they're way up the walls. In the end I was blessed with winning both events, but the biggest surprise was yet to come. Jeff Green was a fellow athlete and leg maker. He was killed in an accident and every year since, they give an award to an athlete who carries on his fun and supportive personality. It is athlete driven in that the athletes choose who to give it to. When I climb, I love to help people, I have no problem giving beta when asked, and I love when others do well and succeed on something they're working. I guess Jeff and I had that in common since I was nominated and won the award this year. I can't tell you how humbling it is to win an award like that. It really made me feel like they got to see a piece of God through my actions, and I hope feel a bit of His peace. All in all, I was again blown away by the human spirit. It seems you can break the body, but the heart lives on. Peace, c