OTTAWA SK8 WEEKEND!

What a fantastic way to spend a weekend!

I would totally recommend this event to skaters of all abilities. When else would you have the opportunity to be coached by both Eddie Metzger and Barry Publow for an entire weekend? They are both very passionate and very knowlegable about skating. My impression was that they are generally on the same page and within the same ballpark about most things, although their approaches and strategies might differ. For me it was fascinating and informative and a very valuable experience to have back-to-back sessions with Eddy and Barry where both of them were demonstrating their own unique kinds of double-push drills. There are great things you can draw upon from both styles of teaching. Eddy's enthusiams is infectious and having taken one of Barry's Speedcamp Clinics a couple of years ago, it was a great opportunity to once again see his technical expertise in action. Both of them obviously love teaching skaters of all levels and abilities, and it really shows.

I also found Beth Mansfield's nutritional information for athletes very insightful and valuable. It turns out that the non-Vegan food that I keep around the house for me to eat is pretty much "bad". Tuna Steaks and canned Albacore Tuna are large fish that eat smaller fish and thus have higher levels of mercury. Better that I eat more Skipjack tuna for example. Also I should lay off the cream cheese... it's pure fat. Although for me the alternative Bagel-spread is Peanut Butter... which I have an allergic reaction to.

Best of all was the really cool folks from the skating community that I got to hang out with. It was a great opportunity for me to spend some time with some of my Montreal 24 Hour teammates like Danny Dutrisac, Mike Garvin, and Dean, guys I've skated with in many events over the past few years. Reacquainting with folks like Stephane whom I skated with in the 1/2 at the Ottawa Inline Festival two years ago, meeting really cool skaters like Murray, the one man skate club from Orillia, Pascale and Genevieve from the Montreal Dance Squad 24 Hour team/Roller Montreal, being coached by guys like Youri and Stephane, and so many others that I got to interact with during the weekend. Steve MacDonald, the president of Ottawa Inline is a real gentleman and a great host.

It also occured to me how glad I am that Carolyn has become so involved in this sport to the extent that she's as excited as I am to be doing this clinic as the only other TISC representative (besides myself) here this weekend. I've known her since my days at Queen's University, and even though I've made some really great friends within the skating community, I derive a great deal of satisfaction that I managed to recruit her from the ranks of my non-skating friends. This way, I don't look so crazy whenever I talk about doing a weekend out of town skating trip like this... as soon as the non-skating friends start looking at me funny I can just point over to Carolyn who tends to be a better yardstick of sanity if there are two of us involved instead of just me.

Of course it was great to spend the weekend with Jen. Given the fact that she did all the driving, particularly the exhausting drive home, treated me to the hotel, Ethiopian dinner, chocolate vegan cake and other wonderful birthday suprises, made sure I ate a healthy breakfast, tended to the embarrassing road-rash on my rear, covers all the details that generally slip my mind, and is extremely supportive of my skating in general and is willing to spend a weekend with me at a Skating Clinic in Ottawa, I'd have to say I'm a really lucky fella indeed to have such a wonderful girlfriend!

There is just so much to try and capture from this weekend. If Ottawa Inline ever hosts something like this again, I would definitely go back, and I would heavily encourage others to attend as well.

I'm just amazed the incredible value we received for what we paid for. It ended up being less expensive for Jen and I to join the Ottawa Inline Club as a couple and register for the Weekend Event. So we got a membership into the Ottawa Inline Club out of it as well (which allowed them to extend the invitation to me to join their 24 Hour team a couple of months back). On top of the seminars and skate sessions with Barry, Eddy and Beth, we also got a set of twincam bearings (which I generally use for races), a Skatefarm T-shirt, Lunch was provided both days, and there was a great Buffet Dinner at the Lonestar where they had a party (and I'm told a live band playing disco!) on Saturday night. We were too tired to stay out for the live music and dancing, but I can't think of any other skating or athletic event in general in the past few years that gave use that much bang for the buck.

I'll try and capture some of the things I learned this weekend and the drills we did when I have more time.

As a rec skater, I really need to practice the hill-technique we learner in slowing down the hill by doing the ski-style slolum (sp?). It would be a useful skill for me to work on. I had the first spill of the weekend when I was taking the hill out of control and ended up with some road rash on my rear.

We did some really good drills as well to focus on the carving that is necessary... on crossovers and working up to the double push.

WHAT I ATE ON SATURDAY
Muesli Pita with apricot jam. Pear. Banana, Vector Cereal. Tuna and Chicken Sandwiches. Cherry tomatoes, broccoli, celery. Gatorade. Corn Chips and Salsa. Mixed veggies... carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. Chicken and Steak Fajitas with Sour Cream, Cheese, Gaucamoli, onion. Green Apple Vodka Drink. pineapple, strawberries, watermelon. Chocolate brownies.

WHAT I ATE ON SUNDAY
Muesli Pita with apricot Jam. Apple. Strawberries. Veggie wrap. Ham and Tuna and Chicken Sandwiches. Gatorade. broccoli, cherry tomatoes, red pepper, celery. 3 chocolate cookies. Harvey's Angus Burger with Bacon and Cheese and all the fixin's. Fries with lots of ketchup. Pepsi. Chocolate Milkshake.