'WALK TO MORDOR' UPDATE: 402 miles down and 1,397 miles to go

I continued my (virtual) “Walk to Mordor” during the past week by logging six more miles since my last update. I walked/jogged three miles on Sunday and three more miles today (Friday). So far, I’ve logged 402 total miles on this virtual trip to Mount Doom, and I’ve got 1,397 more miles to go before I reach Mordor. All in all, I’ve completed about 22.3 percent of the total trip.

 

In relation to Frodo’s journey, I’m still on the 25th day of his trip, which is Oct. 18 on the Middle Earth calendar. I left off on my last update on Mile 396, which was three miles past where Frodo’s group finds the Stone Trolls. They rest there, and then later Sam recites the “Old Troll.”

 

Four miles later, at Mile 400, I reach the point where Frodo’s group returns to The Road. From that point, I’ve logged two more miles, and the next significant milestone comes at Mile 405, where, while looking for a place to camp, Frodo’s group hears a horse, Glorfindel.

 

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