'WALK TO MORDOR' UPDATE: 162 miles down and 1,637 miles to go

Chetwood is on the right side of this map.

I continued my (virtual) “Walk to Mordor” during the past week by logging nine more miles since my last update. I walked/jogged three miles on Sunday, three miles on Wednesday and three miles today (Friday). So far, I’ve logged 162 total miles on this virtual trip to Mount Doom, and I’ve got 1,637 more miles to go before I reach Mordor. All in all, I’ve completed about nine percent of the total trip.

 

In relation to Frodo’s journey, I’m on the ninth day of his trip. I left off on my last update on Day 9 at Mile 153. Day 9 is Oct. 1 on the Middle Earth calendar, and it’s the second day of the voyage from Bree. In all, Frodo and his companions cover 16 miles on Dec. 9.

 

At Mile 147, the group begins to head east as the ground begins to drop slowly. It’s a quiet an peaceful day. I’ve got one more mile to go before I reach the next significant landmark at Mile 163, which is where the group ends Day 9 by camping in the eastern Chetwood.

 

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.

 

The folks 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 very 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 10 more miles next week, and I’ll include all that in my update next week.