I've only just discovered the Walk With Frodo app on Garmin's Connect IQ
store and as as a huge LOTR nerd, it's going to make the next 1,800 miles
fly by

Date:
Sun, 12 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Description:
'One does not simply walk into Mordor' it's 1,800 miles away but you can measure it with a Garmin watch and this perfect 5-year-old smartwatch app.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Bilbo Baggins once sang, "the road goes ever on and on". But even so, 1,800 miles is a long way to walk. Fortunately, this little Lord Of The Rings -themed app from the Garmin Connect IQ store available on all the best
Garmin watches on our list is going to make it fun.

The Walk With Frodo app is available to download for free (you can also
donate to the creator via the PayPal link in the app's description) and has been downloaded more than 50,000 times in the past five years. It's
compatible with pretty much all modern Garmin watches, and works by reading your background activity step count, rather than your recorded exercise sessions. (Image credit: Future) Walk With Frodo matches your step count to the journey Frodo and Sam undertake in the Lord Of The Rings , from the peaceful land of The Shire to the fiery chasm of Mount Doom. It's a journey estimated by the app to be around 1,800 miles, or 2,897km, which is a long
old journey for little legs. However, Frodo and Sam manage it in 185 days, according to the LOTR Project and The Atlas of Middle-Earth can you do better? Article continues below You may like I stopped using Garmin Connect's easily-forgotten gear tracking feature but I've just fallen back in love
with it Strava's finally given Apple Watch users a WorkOutdoors-style feature they've been missing in the Workout app for years How many Garmin watches can you name? Take my expert quiz and find out Periodically, Walk With Frodo will send you updates when you reach various milestones along the journey, such as Tom Bombadil's house, The Prancing Pony inn, or the mines of Moria. Pressing your Garmin's "start" button will reveal more information about a particular milestone. How fitness gamification works (Image credit: Warner Bros) I'm a die-hard Lord Of The Rings nerd I re-read the books every couple of years, and the films are my comfort-blanket watch so this little Garmin app is perfect for me. I can't believe it's been around for five years and I've only just become aware of its existence. I'm super excited at the prospect of completing my long training runs to find I've run to Rivendell, or sprinted through the lair of the giant spider, Shelob I definitely won't be hanging around in there!

The premise of apps such as this one is nothing new, with gamification strategies having been used for many years now to keep fitness fans glued to smart tech. Apple Watches , Garmin, Samsung , Oura, Whoop... every wearable offers badges, challenges, rewards and other digital "pings" designed to associate activity with increased dopamine. With data comes gamification, tricking yourself into good habits and sharing your achievements with
friends.

Occasionally, this can get toxic. Strava, perhaps the most successful proponent of these strategies, uses public leaderboards and segments to keep local athletes competing for titles in a perpetual game of king-of-the-hill. Reports of athletes becoming obsessed with their metrics are almost as disturbing as stories of Strava becoming a national security risk by leaking sensitive military information. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

I recently wrote about Garmin's new Pokmon Sleep integration, and how it emotionally blackmailed me into a better bedtime routine by personifying my sleep health as one of 46 little critters made famous by the franchise. Sure, most people can go to bed late on their own terms, but when they have a very tired Pikachu on their wrist, the drive to improve their sleep score is much stronger. The best Garmin watches for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best Garmin watches 1. Best overall: Garmin Venu
4 2. Best premium: Garmin Fenix 8 3. Best budget: Garmin Vivoactive 6 Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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