I Made It!

I finally finished The Shire virtual walking challenge that I started way back in April! It was 145 miles through The Shire with Frodo and Sam and I completed it in 145 days. I gave myself plenty of extra time when setting my goal but didn't need all of it. 

I've unlocked the next challenge, The Fellowship, through Rivendell. There are a total of five Lord of the Rings Challenges but I think I'm done. They are not inexpensive and I don't really feel the need to record my mileage and virtually compete. I already have this cool medal,

with The Ring inside. 

I'm just going to keep moving and walking will be its own reward. 

auf Wiedersehen!

I've finished my (virtual) 30-mile trek through Berlin, and am happy that I did it. It provided me with the motivation to walk (almost every day), some interesting scenery (via Google maps), and I learned plenty of things about Berlin and the Berlin Wall along the way. 

Ryan has friends in Germany that told him they view Berlin as a crowded, somewhat dirty city, but that could probably be said of almost any place with a population of 3.7 million. Even with my small virtual trip from Waltersdorfer Chaussee to Hermsdorf, I've seen that it's also a city with politics, culture, history, academics, and plenty of good food. Maybe someday I'll be able to visit Berlin and Germany in person, but until then I'm going to keep walking in NJ so I'll be able to walk in other real geographic locations in the future.

So where is my next challenge taking me? For a 145-mile journey through The Shire. I've just begun, and I think this will take me much of the summer to complete, but I'm excited to travel to Middle-earth!

Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, and a Jump

I've completed 19 miles of the 30-mile Berlin Wall walking challenge I started last week. I've learned a few things about the Berlin Wall, increased my motivation to exercise, and I even look forward to walking (most days). 

After passing Checkpoint Charlie (which was really just a wooden shed when it was used as a crossing point between East and West Berlin), I came to the Brandenburg Gate. I've always imagined it as a magnificent sort of gate that was opened to mark special occasions, but I learned that while it was a gate when Berlin was a small walled city circa 1730, the current structure was built between 1788 and 1891. It has stood since then despite being damaged in WWII, through war and peace. 

Yesterday I reached Bernauer Straße where the first casualty of the Wall happened. It was also where 34 West Berlin students dug a 475 ft tunnel under the street, and 57 people used it to escape. An East German border patrolman, Hans Konrad Schumann, decided that he longer wanted to keep his fellow citizens imprisoned, so he dropped his machine gun and took a leap of faith over barbed wire to safely escape to West Germany. Things like this give me some small glimmers of hope today. 

I'm enjoying my trek through Berlin. Only 11 miles left to go!

Walking in Germany

I was so inspired by Vicki's post on Friday (and desperate to find some way to keep myself inspired to walk almost every day) that I perused The Conqueror Events website a few times, made a choice, and then signed up. 

I'm doing The Berlin Wall Virtual Challenge, a powerful 30-mile journey through the center of Berlin, Germany, from Waltersdorfer Chaussee to Hermsdorf. What used to be a symbol of a world split in half by the Cold War now is the symbol of freedom, liberty, and unity. The description of this one spoke to me, and I wanted to start with something on the easy side so I could make sure that I would actually do it. I usually walk 2 miles a day, so I think that I should be able to complete 30 miles relatively easily. 

If I can keep this up, I may sign up for The Lord of the Rings challenges. This is a series of five different challenges, going from The Shire, through the Mines of Moria, to Mordor. The Shire alone is 145 miles, so that one may fit my mileage and budget for now. No point getting ahead of myself now when I've only gone ~ six miles, but this is a lot more fun than just plodding along. 

Thanks, Vicki, and I hope to get to Sonnenallee Border Crossing this week!