I may have lost my mind, but now, as well as doing the #31dayblogginchallenge, I’ve set myself a new one – 30 minutes of actual exercise each day.

It all started at the barn. Some of you may know that I have been involved with horses in one way or another for more years than I will admit to in public. Lately, riding my horse has become my main reason to even leave the house. (See my previous post.) Well, in order to ride a horse with even a modicum of safety and comfort, it is necessary to have a fairly well-developed sense of balance (check) and to be at least somewhat physically fit (erhm….).

Not surprisingly, sitting at my desk creating websites, blogging, answering emails, and playing on managing my social media all day, with a kitchen just down the hall full of stuff that I can snack on when I’m stumped for ideas (or just a little bored) has led to a certain decline in my fitness level.

Recently a good friend of mine, who also rides at the same stables, completed a 30-day fitness challenge. She did 30 minutes of exercise every day for 30 days. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, when the 30 days were over she kept going! She’s on like Day 44 or something  now, and shows no signs of stopping.

So I’m going to start tomorrow, with my own 30-minutes-a-day challenge. I’ll vary the workouts – walking, elliptical, stairs. Riding won’t count – it certainly comes under the heading of exercise but it is purely pleasure and I don’t want to attach any sense of obligation to it. It will be a sort of bonus.

Luckily, my boss is pretty good about giving me time off during the day to go ride as long as I make up the work time in the evenings. I think she’ll let me take a 30-minute break to get in some exercise as well, as long as my work doesn’t suffer.