New Goal

Last night, we passed the original goal of $22,500 and I put a new goal of $30,000 up on the website. This would allow us to grant 6 wishes, like Paytons' below. Thank you to all of you Wish Granters! Your donations are really motivating me!

I have also signed up with a guide service: Alpenglow. They have run several trips to Ama Dablam and I'm confident they will run a safe and fun trip.

Training is going great and I would like to thank Crossfit Justice in Milford Michigan for taking me to a new level. I really love their system of classes and community they've developed. I feel like I've missed something if I miss my 2x/week class.

BECOME A WISH GRANTER: http://friends.wish.org/022-000/page/Steven-Cook/Steve's-Wish-Climb.htm

Payton's Wish - "I want a Pirate Ship"



http://www.crossfitjustice.com/home.html

Make-A-Wish Meeting

I met with Susan Smith and Leah Borst yesterday at the Make-A-Wish office in Brighton, Michigan. A really dedicated and professional staff and it should be noted that at least 80% of every dollar raised goes to granting wishes. Wish family doctors have confirmed that wish children get better once they're in the make-A-Wish program. So to all of you ... keep it up!

We discussed how well the fundraising is going, with over $20,000 raised in just 4 months, pretty incredible and due to all of the donors generosity. We also talked about the 2nd and 3rd wishes that will be granted soon and I'll have more on that upcoming.

They had some ideas for me regarding media press releases so hopefully you'll see more on that soon.


Donate here: http://friends.wish.org/022-000/page/Steven-Cook/Steve's-Wish-Climb.htm



Susan Smith's daughter Lucy, a Make-A-Wish kid

Big Step

Booked the flight yesterday! A lot of travel to get 1/2 way around the world, almost 25 hours there and over 30 hours on the way back. Detroit-LA-China-Kathmandu. I've traveled a lot to Europe and thought a 9 hour direct flight was long. Still need to select a guide service, but that's almost complete too.

Update Training

I continue with HITT (High Intensity Interval Training) at Crossfit Justice in Milford and at D1 Detroit in Bloomfield Hills. Two to three days per week is adequate for the moment for this kind of workout. The other days are lower intensity endurance workouts.

I've broken up the next 7 months into workout 'pods'. Until mid-April I'll focus on these types of HITT/strength workouts. Then the following 90 days will be strictly endurance 8-10 hours/week followed by the final 3 months a combination of both 10-12 hours per week. My plan is that this varying exercise routine will keep me injury free until I leave.

Training

Considering the fight that Wish Kids are experiencing, my training pain seems easier to accept. I've been a big fan of Crossfit Justice in Milford. They have a "Crossfit light" program I like called Streamline. It's all the Crossfit stuff we love without the heavy Olympic weightlifting moves.

Friday's workout was:
250 air squats
100 Abmatts
225 jumping jacks
100 meter row

I followed that with a 45 minute spin class interspersed with TRX core and upper body work. I was pretty spent! What keeps me focused are the Wish kids. Their mountain is a lot higher than mine.