We Did It- Thank you so much!

Crankin' it up another notch

Well..... here we go. Ready or not! We, as a group have started turning it up to the next level of training, and soon to be in the highest, heaviest training mode that we will reach. As we are EXACTLY 7 weeks from leaving for Africa from the 'states'; all of you who have shown your care and support (both encouragement and financial) of Brad, Kirk and I over all or part of the last 5 1/2 months DESERVE to know what we are up to, and to see that we are so very serious about our training efforts to achieve our goal on Mt. Kilimanjaro (IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, JUST CLICK ON EITHER OF KIRK'S OR BRAD'S PHOTO TO SEE THE DETERMINATION AND PHYSICAL EXERTION THAT IS OCCURRING, OR IN BRAD'S CASE- OCCURRED).

Our current plan is to start our highest level of training next week. We want to be at this max level of effort and training for a month, but we want it to cease about two weeks before our departure. Then those last two weeks, we will 'kick it back' several levels.... we what to continue to be active and keep our fitness, but we really NEED our bodies to heal and for our muscles to recover to the maximum extent possible prior to starting up the mtn. So... this means that from June 15 - July 12, we will be in high-gear.

As a group, we will be going to Denver in late June to climb and hike in the 13000-14000 elevation range for 3 days. Also, in early July, Brad and I will hopefully be going to upstate New York to climb some mtns in the 5000-6000 ft elevation range (FYI- that's SUPER high for the east coast). Currently, we are already 'upping' our efforts....Last weekend, Kirk climbed Crazy Woman again, but this time it was with a whopping 85# backback! As I spoke to Kirk, who has alway been very active and inshape through his life, he said, "I can certainly say it was one, if not the toughest thing I have ever done physically." Brad has been advancing his training in leaps and bounds also. Several weeks ago, he and I climbed the Appalachian Trail on the section leaving Port Clinton heading south. This stretch is very steep and has large rocks and roots to maneuver around; which he had almost perfected negotiating trail conditions such as these. He has really worked hard on the hiking techinique of the 'rest-step'; which allows the body a micro- rest between each step (the key is the body is resting on it's full-frame, e.g. both legs). This techniques help regulate pace of steps and pace of breathing. Just this last weekend, he bumped his backpack weight up to 40#. His first trip out with the new weight really put brad's legs and lungs to the test. As you can see by his photo he needed a bit of rest at the top. As for me, i have upped the weight in my pack also from 35 # up to 45#; and i also wear ankle weights when training. I also am lengthening the time and distance of each workout i do, whether it be the jogging (cardio), the stairs at the Cathedral of Learning, or hiking up the mtns of Chestnut ridge and Ohiopyle State Park.

We all have gotten our Passports, and we will all have our immunization shots by the end of the week. We have now passed the $27,500 mark on our fundraising efforts (see chart to the right of the blogsite), and feel very confident from the letters that we have recently sent and the contacts that we have made that by the end of June we will have reached our minimum goal of $30,000 for sight-saving surgeries for infants and children through VOSH/PA.

We are grateful for each and every one of your thoughts, prayers and donations. We could not be achieving any of this without each and every one of you. We are positively-impacted daily in some form or fashion by our friends and family regarding this trip. All I have left to say is... keep posted, it is only going to get better!

Petzl supports our trip by donating headlamps

I just wanted to let everyone know that we received a sponsorship from Petzl recently. They donated two of their 'top of the line' headlamps for brad to use on the trip. As you may or may not know yet, on summit day, we will be starting to hike around mid-night; with the goal of reaching Uhuru peak around sunrise. If brad were 100% blind- he would have no illumination needs at all, but since he has only 5% remaining, and has no night vision, his illumination needs are that much greater and that much more critical. I had solicited several companies about possible donations of gear for the trip, and PETZL was the only company to respond at all, let alone positively! Just wanted to send a HUGE thanks to Petzl for their generosity, and to ask anyone who has a headlamp need, to purchase a Petzl headlamp. They are the world-wide leader in quality of headlamps, and obviously will be helping Brad in summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro. Petzl is supporting us, so please support Petzl!

2 months out

hello to all! it is now the end of may and things are coming together with only 2 months 'til we start up the mountain. i recently spent a week in pennsylvania to visit family, and to get together with brian and brad for some training. it was time well spent. brian introduced me to the stairs at the cathedral of learning in pittsburgh. we worked our way up flight after flight of stairs, with loaded packs, for several hours. brian has certianly developed a great workout regime to prepare for a mountain. later in my visit, brian and i made a trip to reading, pa to get out on the trail with brad. though we were able to get out for good, physical workouts, our time together on the trail, time to practice working as a team, was far more important. all the outings (each one designed to work on specific aspects of our climb) were very productive. to me, our most difficult and productive outing was a several hour walk in the dark. on "summit day" we will be on the trail heading up the mountain just after mid-night, walking with headlamps for the first 6 or 7 hours of the climb. this will dramatically increase the difficulty of the climb for brad, taking him from 5% of his vision during the day to total night blindness!

being on the trail, practicing in the dark, is crucial for brad to become comfortable and build confidence for summit day. with a few tweeks, the communication system we practiced through the day could also be used at night. though difficult, utilizing sound, through voice was an effective way to gather some bearings. our best discovery was an idea that brian had to use ultra high reflective tape. brian and i stuck the reflective tape on the bottom end of our trekking poles, hoping the tape would reflect enough light from brad's high-output petzl headlamp to be visible to him. it worked wonderfully! and though brad could see basically nothing else, he now had 2 bright "dots" to follow in the darkness. before long we were able to work together to negotiate some fairly rough terrain by night's end.

i say "we" because we were working as a team, and each member of that team played a role in the success of that night, but....the star of the night was brad! with all my hiking and climbing experience, i couldn't begin to do what he did that night. as we were out training in the dark i saw clearly brad's full commitment to this climb in the concentration and determination that was on his face. this climb should be (with vosh, brad and the mountain itself) fairly self-motivating...and it is. but the determination that i saw that night has now inspired me to a whole new level. way to go brad, keep it up!

thanks to everyone, once again, for all the verbal, emotional and financial support the "climb for sight" and for us personally. it means the world to us!

May 2 hike trip

Hi everyone- wanted to tell you about Brad and my trip this past weekend. We did an 8.5 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail, just east of Hamburg. We hiked the section from Reservoir Road past Pulpit Rock and onto Pinnacle Rocks. From there we looped back on another trail to the start. Overall we rose 1200 VF or so, and traversed across about 2 miles of rock morraine that the trail went through. What a great trip. Brad did awsome- out of this world! Obviously, we had a slower time in the rocky areas, but we did the entire trip in only 5.5 hrs, which included a 30 minute lunch break at Pinnacle. Brad's legs are getting stronger, but we still need to all work on our cardio increase. Our plans to group hike over the next 3 months work out nicely. Kirk is coming to PA at the end of May for a two-day trip; then Brad, Kirk and I will converge on Denver region at the end of June to climb in the 12K to 13K elevation for 3 full days. It works out nicely that these trips are about 4 weeks apart from now till departure for Africa. Also, if you haven't heard us blabbing it from the rooftops yet, Brad was the feature of an article on our trip that was on the front page of his local news paper in Reading, PA. The link to the article on-line is:http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=136850. Enjoy- it is such a nice article.

motivation

hello to all! it's been a while since i've posted anything so i guess it's time. only about 3 months 'til we depart, and everything we need to do to be ready for the climb is already building. outside of the visas, passports, shots, flights, continued fund raising, gathering gear, and all the other logistical concerns that seem to weight us down...the training is coming along for all of us. we're at the point now, 90-100 days out, that our training is getting turned up a notch, or two. with short-term goals in mind, every workout means something. i've written previously about the inspirational aspects of the climb for me and its effects on my (our) training. motivation, though, comes in many colors. the picture i've included in this post is also a great motivator. as brian and i began our climb of mt. rainier last year, brian developed some severe cramping in his quads and we had to slow our pace considerably. he was able to work through the pain that first day and actually felt stronger as we continued to climb the following days. what was happening in this very picture has become motivation for both of us to not let it happen again! brian recently made 8 trips up the cathedral of learning stairs. that's 36 flights per trip. 288 flights. that's over 5000 verticle feet! oh...with a pack. and i'd be willing to bet that on almost every trip up that this photo was motivating him to never let it happen again. kudos to you brian!

livin' the good life

Just an update to all who follow what we're up to and have been wondering where we've been. This is a pic of kirk this past weekend climbing Crazy Woman canyon bluffs again. Some people are just livin' the good life! what a view.

A few things have recently happened for our trip this summer. Brad has been working out more, and has his boot thoroughly broken in... his new pack has also arrived.

We have chosen what route we are taking up the mtn. We are doing the Lemosho route, which takes an extra day, but has better views and helps to acclimitize better. So if you have interest, you can probably search online to find more out about this specific climb.

Brad will be out to visit me again next weekend, and we'll be down at Ohiopyle on the trails. We're going to get some good distance under our feet, as well as gain some elevation. that's all for now... keep lookin; we'll keep you 'posted'.