'WALK TO MORDOR' UPDATE: 104 miles down and 1,695 miles to go

I continued my (virtual) “Walk to Mordor” during the past two weeks by logging six more miles since my last update. I walked/jogged three miles on Feb. 28 and three more miles on March 1. So far, I’ve logged 104 total miles on this virtual trip to Mount Doom, and I’ve got 1,695 more miles to go before I reach Mordor. All in all, I’ve completed about six percent of the total trip.

 

In relation to Frodo’s journey, I’m still only on the sixth day of his trip. I left off on my last update at Mile 98, when Frodo’s group reached Tom Bombadil’s house around 7 p.m. on Day 4, which was Sept. 26 on the Middle Earth Calendar. On Day 5 (Sept. 27) it rained, so Frodo’s group spent the day at Bombadil’s house, resting.

 

On Day 6 (Sept. 28), Frodo’s group left Bombadil’s house and climbed a zig-zag path to the brow of a hill on the west side of Barrow-downs. They reach the top of the hill around 9 a.m. Frodo’s group travels 14 miles before noon, and I’ve only covered six miles of that distance. I’ve got eight more to go before reaching the next significant point on the journey.

 

For those of you reading this for the first time, I began this “Walk to Mordor” fitness challenge on Jan. 1. Using a book called “The Atlas of Middle-Earth” by Karen Wynn Fonstad, fans of “The Lord of the Rings” created this challenge by mapping out Frodo’s fictional trek to Mordor, calculating the total distance at 1,799 miles. They also used the original "Lord of the Rings" text to outline the journey, so you can follow their route by keeping up with your total mileage.

 

Those who worked out the nuts and bolts of this virtual journey have divided it into four parts. It’s 458 miles from Hobbiton to Rivendell, 462 miles from Rivendell through Moria to Lothlorien, 389 miles from Lothlorien down the Anduin to Rauros Falls and 470 miles from Rauros to Mount Doom. (Those locations should sound familiar to “Lord of the Rings” fans.) The hobbits averaged 18 miles a day, but if you walk (or jog, as I sometimes do) five miles a day, it’s possible to cover 1,799 miles in a year.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about the “Walk to Mordor Challenge,” I suggest you check out two Web sites, http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/23/walking/ and http://home.insightbb.com/~eowynchallenge/. Both of these sites provide a ton of details about the challenge, including how to get started.

 

In the end, check back next Friday for another update and to see how much closer I am to Mordor. I hope to knock out at least 13 more miles next week, and I’ll include all that in my update next week.