Quest #1 Walk to Rivendell

If you're like me, you dread certain kinds of exercise.  You don't want to go to the gym and work out on the treadmill, or do the elliptical.  Heaven forbid you have to encounter the dreaded villain Stair Master.  Think about it.  It sounds like a villain's name!

I've never been in great shape, although I have been in better shape than I am now.  I've given myself lots of excuses - some of them legit, others not - but that time is over.  It's time to get busy and get into shape and live life to the fullest.

You might be thinking, yeah, easy for you to say, you're a glass half-full kind of person.  Actually, I'm not always - or probably even usually.  I tend to be very sarcastic.  You and this blog just caught me on a day that is a glass-half-full kind of thing. That's why I'm trying to get this done now, so I can keep myself inspired so that I don't quit!

The first quest I wanted to take up was to walk to Mordor.  I'm a huge Lord of the Rings Fan.  I'm working on wearing out my second copy of the books (and when I say wearing out, I mean I read it till the pages fall out and the cover comes off).  I follow another blog called Nerd Fitness and when he came out with an article about walking to Mordor, I thought this was the coolest thing ever!  In fact you should check it out:  http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/23/walking/

Mordor is 1779 miles from Hobbiton they way the Fellowship went.  That's a long way.  So my and first quest is to walk the first leg of the journey, 458 miles to Rivendell in 15 weeks.  Now for those of you who are in great shape and run 10-15 miles a day and get to do this in a month or so, go for it.  But shut up about how easy it might be.  In fact, my challenge to you is to go to Mordor and then back the way they came.  For those of us who haven't done anything like this before, this is an adventure that we start one step at a time.  And first, we're heading to Rivendell!

Courtesy of Nerd Fitness, here's the layout of the journey:

458 miles: Go from Hobbiton to Rivendell
462 miles: Start with the Fellowship from Rivendell, through Moria, to Lothlorien
389 miles: From Lothlorien, down the Anduin, to Rauros Falls
470 miles: Follow Frodo and Sam on the quest from Rauros to Mt. Doom

The quest back:
535 miles: From Minas Tirith to Isengard
693 miles: From Isengard to Rivendell
397 miles from Rivendell to Bag End

Bonus quest:
467 miles: Follow Frodo to the Grey Havens and return home with Sam

If you want the complete breakdown of each of the journeys, here's the site:
http://home.insightbb.com/~eowynchallenge/Walk/walk.html

So you ready?  I am.  Maybe.  I'm hoping to pick up some fellowship members along the way!  So let's walk to Mordor!

(Soundtrack Music of your choice plays now)