[MaeradCase]

Hello, and good evening!

 

I've made some progress since I started challenging myself in May. First step was walking daily to build the habit of getting up to exercise. Second step was incrementally improving my bodyweight exercises from a single set to three sets. Third step was maintaining three sets with a slight increase in difficulty toward standard forms. And though I will keep track of any continuation of my body weight exercises, I want to try emphasizing solely (pfft) walking for week zero, just to see how far I can go without divided efforts.

 

I started off this week by going on a walk this morning with my friend who accompanies me on occasional park walks. I tracked 5,800 steps for a distance of 2.9 miles. I'll be using the Éowyn Challenge (.net) for tracking my small accomplishments over the course of this week/challenge, so to start it off:

 

I left Bag End, went around the west end, and jumped the hedge.

I passed through the gate into a lane and headed west.

I left the lane and followed the hedgerows south.

 

Nowhere near Rivendell, let alone Mordor, but I'm out on the road, and I'll take it 'til it takes me where I need to go.

 

My current goals for this challenge are:

1. Walk daily (considering doubling to morning and evening to find out if walking after work brings some relief)

2. Track my distances on Éowyn Challenge to see how close to Rivendell I can get by the end of the challenge

3. Add color (I'm gonna make like Merry and Pippin raiding Farmer Maggot's veggies, to make sure I'm including veggies at least once in my daily routine)

 

Thanks for joining me for the journey, and I'll see you all on the road to Rivendell.

Sincerely,

Maerad

[Everstorm]

Following for Hobbity adventures and colorful crops!

[MaeradCase]

1 minute ago, Everstorm said:

Following for Hobbity adventures and colorful crops!

Glad to have you along! And thank you for inspiring me with your own colorful food challenge.

[ParylPanda]

Good luck!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following again.

[Heidi]

Thanks for inspiring me to do another Walk to Mordor. 🙂

[MaeradCase]

8 hours ago, ParylPanda said:

Good luck!

Thank you, ParylPanda!

 

8 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following again.

Welcome back, Tank!

 

9 minutes ago, Heidi said:

Thanks for inspiring me to do another Walk to Mordor. 🙂

 That's so exciting! It's my first time at it, and the totals seem daunting, but I don't mind baby steps, so tracking where I am in reference to closer destinations (i.e. Rivendell) is gonna make it more feasible for me to establish my travelogue. 

 

Good morning, all!

Week zero Monday update:

Even though NF's walking challenge officially begins tomorrow, I am getting myself in motion. I've figured ways to weave my neighborhood complex for some distance. Today I did 1.5 miles of walking to add to my totals. I plugged that into the NF journey calculator google doc (where I can keep track of my progress without penciling it in on a random sheet of paper). And the total went to the Éowyn Challenge program to see where my hobbit is at:

 

I finished following the hedgerows south until I came to the Water.

I crossed the Water by means of a plank bridge spanning its breadth.

I set out from the Brandywine Bridge onto the Great Road.

 

Onward to Took county. They have a reputation of adventuring, so I'm sure I'll find some companions there.

 

I have a breakfast event and a lunch event planned with different friends since we're all off today. I may purchase a veggie platter for the breakfast just to make sure they're available to me (and to contribute more than the provision of a d20-shaped waffle iron). As for lunch, I could look into what veggies they provide at our destination. Might as well get the ball rolling as I get closer to Maggot's fields. 😆

 

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Sincerely,

Maerad

[Rhovaniel]

OOh, this is super exciting! My quest to retrace Aragorn's Journey keeps me motivated to walk daily, but it's awesome to see other people doing their own Middle-Earth walks. I used Eowyn.net to calculate my distances too!

 

1 hour ago, MaeradCase said:

As for lunch, I could look into what veggies they provide at our destination. Might as well get the ball rolling as I get closer to Maggot's fields. 😆

Good plan! Hmm, now I feel like cooking up some mushrooms for dinner!

[Salinger]

woooooo here to follow and get inspired xx

[RES]

I may have to do a walk to Mordor as well! Following again!

[WhiteGhost]

On 9/5/2022 at 10:31 AM, MaeradCase said:

I'm gonna make like Merry and Pippin raiding Farmer Maggot's veggies

 

 

 

Along for for the adventure  

[Salinger]

Hey morning, how you getting on so far? xx

[MaeradCase]

21 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

OOh, this is super exciting! My quest to retrace Aragorn's Journey keeps me motivated to walk daily, but it's awesome to see other people doing their own Middle-Earth walks. I used Eowyn.net to calculate my distances too!

 

Good plan! Hmm, now I feel like cooking up some mushrooms for dinner!

Aragorn is definitely someone to adventure with. 😍

Mushrooms!! 😃

 

20 hours ago, RES said:

I may have to do a walk to Mordor as well! Following again!

I think it's really cool to see everyone set out together! Glad to have you around, RES.

 

5 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

 

 

Along for for the adventure  

#hobbitlifegoals lol

Welcome along, WhiteGhost!

 

1 hour ago, Salinger said:

woooooo here to follow and get inspired xx

 

Hey morning, how you getting on so far? xx

Glad to have you, Sal! It's a good first day! Here's my update!

 

Week zero Tuesday update:

Just got back from my morning walk. Nearly happened half an hour early, but we were a little tired from our action- and food-packed weekend. Yesterday's breakfast party lasted to 11 when we had plans to see another friend for lunch... But we were nowhere near hungry! 😂 We'd tucked into delights such as fried eggs, d20-shaped waffles, skillet potatoes (Sam would be proud), berries, bacon, an egg scramble, and my veggie tray (...from which I was the primary grazer). Cidran made the mistake of taking two waffles, but I enjoyed having a very varied mix. 

 

At lunch we ordered a plate of ribs, from which we nibbled on the scrappiest, had a vegetable side each (he had a salad, and I had some grilled broccoli), and each had a small loaf of cornbread. We sat and talked for an hour, and on our way to the cars with leftovers we stood and talked another half an hour. 😅

 

When Cid and I finally got home I needed a nap to digest and rest. I spent a little time dozing, and then the rest of the hour chilling. I played a little of Animal Crossing New Leaf and discovered my first successful blue rose from the careful rose-breeding program I've set up in my town! I still have a few months of time-traveling left before I can catch the remaining fish, but I'm excited to see how many blue roses I can grow before then.

 

Afterward, Cidran and I spent a little time playing with Legos (I made a trick box that only opens by being leaned a certain direction). He got hit bad by the blues, so after a little discussion we turned on Critical Role to listen to. I was only half-listening because I was moving what was left on my laptop onto my rescued hard drive. The biggest chunk was 16k items that had been moved from phone to computer without any organization. 😅 Anyway, my laptop has zero files left, and it's gonna go through all the updates possible in hopes that afterward it will no longer have any issue with charging the new battery when plugged in with the new cable and converter. It's not a hardware issue, and the best answer I can find online that makes sense is that the software is not up to date due to the laptop sitting off for nearly two years of inactivity.

 

We had a small dinner of leftovers from Saturday, and listened to some SpellJammer until around 10, when we headed to bed. Woke up sleepy, tried to find my Pokéwalker, and apparently Zemi found out my Eevee in the walker was named after them, so they hid it for themself as a toy to bat about. I couldn't find it, so I estimated my steps today. Fortunately Cidran found it for me before he went to work. It was where I had looked for it. 😒 Still, I'm glad to have it back, and I've moved it to where it's less likely to be batted at our shoes by the cat.

 

According to my low-ball estimate entered into Éowyn, I've entered Took land. 😆 

 

I'll be trying out my afternoon walk tonight for the first time when I get back from work. So I guess I need to set my walking clothes out before I leave for work.

 

Yesterday was crazy, and today may be, too. Thanks for joining me on the adventure!

Sincerely,

Maerad

[Salinger]

You are doing well! GREAT start and sounds like a wonderful weekend  xx

[WhiteGhost]

1 hour ago, MaeradCase said:

Yesterday's breakfast party lasted to 11

First breakfast, second breakfast and elevensies all roll into one 

[Sovalis]

What a great start! I'm excited to follow along! 

[MaeradCase]

12 hours ago, Salinger said:

You are doing well! GREAT start and sounds like a wonderful weekend  xx

It was really fun!

 

11 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

First breakfast, second breakfast and elevensies all roll into one 

So true. All my favorite parts of them, too!

 

7 hours ago, Sovalis said:

What a great start! I'm excited to follow along! 

Glad to have your company, Sovalis!

 

13 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

According to my low-ball estimate entered into Éowyn, I've entered Took land. 😆 

 

I'll be trying out my afternoon walk tonight for the first time when I get back from work. So I guess I need to set my walking clothes out before I leave for work.

I found out when I got to work that I only had a half-shift today since I worked on Saturday. I'd known my late arrival, but I somehow missed my early departure! After everyone had returned from lunch, I sat in the back room to eat the lunch I had brought (including the broccoli from the veggie tray!!), and I watched today's challenge video. I shared with my friends that it was as simple as going outside for five minutes so that maybe I can be a positive influence for them.

 

Cidran got home a little bit ago. He had agreed to walk with me when he arrived (I had double-checked since my being home first meant he didn't have an hour to chill before I dragged him out with me), and we took a twisty turny Celtic knot path in and around the buildings immediately around us, rather than across the entire neighborhood like I do. It added another half a mile to my distance today, and it got both of us out for more than the assigned five minutes, so overall I'd say it was a success.

 

I'm currently updating my laptop. I began a reset this morning before I left for work. It was done by the time I got home, but it's still showing the same symptoms of being a grumpy grouchy old computer that got left untouched for a bit too long. Still have my fingers crossed that I can get it up and running smoothly again.

 

Thanks for the comments! I love having you along on my journey! See you again tomorrow!

Maerad

[fearless 2.0]

I See you are doing great! congrats!  

 

[MaeradCase]

1 hour ago, fearless 2.0 said:

I See you are doing great! congrats!  

Thank you, fearless.

 

Week zero Wednesday Update:

 

I got up for my walk, and got started, but my ankle wasn't happy about it, so I only did the same half-mile Celtic knot I did with Cidran's company yesterday afternoon.

 

I'm nearing the end of Took land, and getting closer to the Green Hill Country.

 

My laptop is still desiring updates after the reset, and still not charging when plugged in, but I'll keep at it until it's satisfied, and hopefully will have the desired results when it's done.

 

Thanks for checking on me!

Sincerely,

Maerad

[Salinger]

Hope your ankle heals up quickly!!! xx

[fearless 2.0]

I am injured too. Dont push yourself too hard! ❤️

 

[MaeradCase]

11 hours ago, Salinger said:

Hope your ankle heals up quickly!!! xx

Thanks. My feet keep complaining. There's not much I can do to relieve them of their burdens.

 

4 hours ago, fearless 2.0 said:

I am injured too. Don't push yourself too hard! ❤️

 

I'll try to be kind, but that sweeps the rug out from under my intention to walk a lot this week.

 

Week Zero - Second Wednesday Update:

 

Got home in a miserable state of mind, but changed into my walking clothes and waited for Cidran to join me. We took a different path for a different Celtic knot than we did yesterday afternoon.

 

With his company I've passed through Took Land, and from the first slopes of the Green Hill Country I can look back and see the lights of Hobbiton glistening in the distance (7.5 miles for those not also on their way to Rivendell).

 

We talked awhile about what's bothering me before we started puttering around to get dinner started. I wouldn't say it's all taken care of, but it's a little better than before.

 

That's all for now. Talk to you again soon.

Maerad

[MaeradCase]

11 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

Thanks. My feet keep complaining. There's not much I can do to relieve them of their burdens.

Well, my new Xero shoes came in yesterday, so I can let them try to do me good. My understanding from the website is that it can be a little hard to transition, and that it takes some time to break in the shoes. Sounds normal enough to me. I'm more concerned about if they'll be comfortable, and if not - that I can return them. So this morning I stayed indoors since there's no refund if they've been used outdoors. I walked the perimeter of my carpeted floor (it was fun sidestepping between the table and the wall) for five minutes (several laps, and only 350 steps). Zemi hid under the bed, probably because we don't wear shoes around the house, or because the shoes smell/sound different (new/leather).

 

Anyway, I'll leave it at that and just take care of my distance efforts when I get home from work.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Sincerely,

Maerad

[sarakingdom]

3 hours ago, MaeradCase said:

My understanding from the website is that it can be a little hard to transition, and that it takes some time to break in the shoes.

 

I believe it's less time breaking in the shoes, and more time getting your tendons used to doing their job with a zero-drop heel. (Conventional shoes have a slope, or drop, from the raised sole at the heel to the toes.) If you spend a lot of time barefoot, this will be less of a concern, but people used to conventional shoes can have some tendon issues (I believe Achilles) when they move to a zero drop shoe, because it's more heel stretch than they're used to, and can cause some irritation on a run or hike.

 

If the issue with your ankles is them turning randomly, a barefoot style shoe does help, in my experience.

[MaeradCase]

🥬 / 🥕 🥦 🫑 / 🥦 🌿 🐾 / 🍑 🌿 🐾 / 🍌 🌿 🐾 🥕 🥬

 

I've been forgetting to share my veggies in more than mention of their existence. 🥬 is the closest I could find to celery, 🌿 in these cases are green beans, and 🐾 is (toe 😅) beans.

 

I tapped into my veggie tray after finishing my lunch today so that I wouldn't immediately eat one of the wraps that were given to us by a customer. I may enjoy one later. I haven't looked, but they come with apples? Maybe those will be good, too.

 

I'll post again later, but I wanted to get this posted while I could remember what meals I'd had the last few days (I'm actually impressed right now, since I forget pretty quickly).

 

I also recommended Tank's tortellini soup to a coworker when she asked for food ideas that use ground beef but not tomato sauce. 😍