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Posts Tagged ‘Tennis’

8 Quick Tips For Staying Fit During The Winter Months

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

If you’re like me, then getting to the gym can be a real chore. Especially now that I’m blogging, I have come up with nearly every excuse in the book to avoid the gym. “I haven’t written a blog in a couple of days, so I want to write this morning. I have no time for the gym today!” Now I’m in pretty decent shape. I won’t lie. I’ve been active my entire life, from ballet as a little girl through to late teens, and then fitness after that.  Being fit and eating healthy have always been a part of my life. But, honestly, I’m just not one of those people who “love the gym.” Obviously, there is no better feeling once you’re finished, and I never regret going once I’m all done, but it’s always a miracle that I make it there. Every time.

I don’t think I’m alone either. We seem to find time to work and play just fine, but eating right and staying fit often take a back seat. Well, we’re coming into the “cozy” months. The “couch potato” months if you live in a city as cold as mine in the winter. The metabolism seems to slow down, we drink some full-bodied reds, and enjoy that yummy mac and cheese and shepherd’s pie that our kids seem to love. Sounds good to me. Except that these are the months that many have a tendency to put weight on. The physical outdoor activities of walking, jogging, swimming, golfing, and many others become literally a “cease and desist.”

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Navratilova – Not On The Fence About Andre Agassi & Crystal Meth

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

If you have been following the unraveling of Andre Agassi, one of our tennis greats, there is no doubt you have an opinion. If you haven’t been following, let me share the background of the story.

Andre Agassi, eight-time grand slam tennis champion. Philanthropist. All around nice guy. Married to another tennis prodigy, Steffi Graf. Kids. Smiles. A great story of a triumphant comeback. The whole squeaky clean image.

Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi & their two kids

Until now. Andre Agassi’s autobiography reveals his admission to using crystal meth in the nineties, and subsequently lying about it after he failed a drug test. But get this; after testing positive for the substance, Agassi wrote to the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) that it was all a mistake, and he had accidentally drank his assistant Skip’s “spiked” soda. And boy, they believed it! The case was thrown out.

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Kim Clijsters, Clearly NOT a Woman on the Fence

Monday, September 14th, 2009

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For those of you who are not big tennis fans, you don’t have to be to appreciate this story. Kim Clijsters, formerly the number one ranked tennis player in the world, had retired. For two years she left professional tennis, the game she loved, the vehicle of her income, to get married and have her daughter, Jada. How many of us can relate to that joyful feeling of maternity leave, only to reemerge back into the work force, dazed and confused. You come back like a rusty nail, worrying how your new child is fairing in daycare, or at home while you’re off trying to prove yourself to the world again.

“I didn’t understand fully how tricky retirement would be. Every athlete will tell you, when they stop at a young age it is tough to find the kind of fulfilment you want. Some need to come out of retirement to find it, people get bored, they want to play at the level they once enjoyed – but that wasn’t me. I was never in it for the money, or the limelight. I played to win.” Pete Sampras.

Pete Sampras was 31 when he retired, with 14 Grand Slam titles to his name and nothing left to prove. Kim Clijsters is 25 and proving her comeback after her two-year retirement.

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