Fitness: Family & Filanthropy: Tennis

Recently, I played doubles with my friend and partner against a really great team.  We began the night playing very well and won the first set 6-3. In the second set, we fought hard and as the games racked up, I kept an eye on my Polar Heart Rate monitor (A link to the kind I have is here. And the definition of one is a personal monitoring device which allows one to measure his or her heart rate in real time or record the heart rate for later study. It is largely used by performers of various types of physical exercise.)  I use the monitor as a motivator and it gives me real time feedback about how hard I am working out. In the past, when I have played tennis, I have watched the calories accrue but this time, I watched the heart rate fluctuate.  About mid-way through the two hour match, my heart rate at one point reached about 152 beats.  I was definitely in the zone for most of the match which for me is over 118 beats.  We ended up losing the second set 3-6 and at one point my adrenaline as well as my heart rate was really pumping.  In the third set, we were down 5-0 with about 15 minutes left in our court time.  My partner and I knew we needed to make a come back. We got to 3-5 and lost the final game with about one minute left of our court time.  At that point, I looked at my calories burned - 750! Wow, in a two hour doubles match.  We were really workout hard but having a good time as well.  Tennis is a wonderful sport and one that is very meaningful to my family.  My grandparents, parents and sisters all played, including one sister who turned it into a career.  While my playing personally ebbed and flowed over the years, it was only about three years ago that I began to play regularly.  It brought me new friendships and fun times with my family.  For 25 years, my sister also used tennis as a vehicle to raise awareness and funds for causes in her community.  She and I have begun to talk about ways in which we can again weave the tennis thread into raising money and awareness for a valuable cause. Stay tuned.