'WALK TO MORDOR' UPDATE: 130 miles down and 1,669 miles to go

I continued my (virtual) “Walk to Mordor” during the past week by logging seven more miles since my last update. I walked/jogged four miles on Sunday and three more miles earlier today. So far, I’ve logged 130 total miles on this virtual trip to Mount Doom, and I’ve got 1,669 more miles to go before I reach Mordor. All in all, I’ve completed about seven percent of the total trip.

 

In relation to Frodo’s journey, I’m still only on the seventh day of his trip. I left off on my last update at Mile 123, where Frodo and his group have reached a dike and hedge that represents the former boundary of Carolan. As many of you will know Carolan was part of the North Kingdom of Arnor.

 

From the hedge, Frodo’s group has to cover eight miles before they can return to the Great East Road. During the past week, I covered seven of those eight miles, so I’m almost there. The next significant milestone, after returning to the Great East Road, will be the village of Bree, which is east of the Shire and south of Fornost Erain. Right now, I’m about five miles from Bree, which I should arrive at around the end of Day 7 at Mile 135.

 

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 eight more miles next week, and I’ll include all that in my update next week.