I took Skate Journeys classes at Skate King for only a few months before I enrolled in FIT Team. I had attempted to skate outside on the trail only once. I couldn't glide on one foot for more than a millisecond. And hills and speed scared the daylight out of me. At the first class, I was feeling very discouraged about my skating abilities compared to everyone else during the warm up. I started to think that I should give up and wait a year to do a marathon. But by the end of the class, I felt good and was having a great time. Now I skate down the trail with confidence, balance, and poise. And I can do a mean stride three! I'm definitely not the fastest skater, but I bet that the people I pass on the trail think that I've been skating for years. I can't wait to do a spiral and squeal WEEEEEE across the finish line at the MS Skate this summer! Thanks Trish, Pat, and fellow fit team members!!!!

Skating is something that I always wanted to try, but never made the time. When some of her friends started skating, Kim wanted to take lessons. I was a little skeptical of taking lessons, but figured, why not try a couple?  From the moment we walked into the rink for our first lesson, everyone made us feel welcome, and it didn’t take long to realize that this was a special group of people that make up Skate Journeys.

Those two or three lessons I thought I would take stretched into more as I realized that there are lots of challenging and fun things to do on skates. Now I am one of the long-term commitments to the program (warning - skating can be addictive), and I’ve taken advantage of just about everything Skate Journeys has offered. Beyond the basics, I’ve been introduced to artistic skating, dance, tricks, indoor and outdoor racing and trail skating. I’ve been surprised by how much I enjoy skating in the rink, especially in the private Skate Journeys sessions. But the fitness program has made the biggest difference for me: the skating skills I have learned, but also in how I train, eat and workout off skates.

Along the way I have had classes with all of the Skate Journeys instructors, plus a few guest instructors, and without exception, they have all been excellent. Beyond being great skaters, they know how to teach and reach all different types of students. Special thanks go to Adrienne, Stacy, Diane, Pete, and of course, Trish who have made it so much fun.

I owe my friend, Doug T a big hug because he got me started in Skate Journeys skate school.  While I already owned a pair of inline skates, I had had a pretty bad experience on them—so it was not without a measure of trepidation that I dug those wheelie-beasts out of the bottom of my closet and met Doug at the skate school, where I landed (quite literally) in the B-1 class.  As I mastered stopping (VERY important), swizzles, duck-walking, turning, I gradually made my way up to the B-4 level, and Trish invited me to be on the F.I.T. (Fitness Inline Training) team.  Whoa!  Could I do it?  I decided—yes.  After a few weeks, I reached a plateau in my progress and was feeling pretty discouraged with myself (“Maybe I’m too old to learn this…,” “Maybe my feet are just too weird…”).  When I shared my discouragement with some of my teammates, they refused to buy into it.  They pointed out what I was doing well and reminded me of how far I had come since the beginning.  When I had run out of courage, they lent me some of theirs.  The support and camaraderie of a team—what an unexpected benefit to being in the skate school.

I was your typical self taught in line skater. Arms everywhere and a stride that produced about 30% of the power that I am capable of. When I started with Trish and the Fit Team, my goal was simple, I wanted to gain some technical skills, and meet some new people that I could skate with. Well, I can honestly say that the program has been worth every penny, and then some!! I have met some great people and REALLY improved my skating ability. Trish has been one of the best teachers in memory. I think it is her love of the sport that makes her such a great instructor. She was quick to point out my flaws, but patient enough to let me understand and correct them. I think Trish provided excellent demonstrations and also plenty of fundamental drills that helped me to learn where I needed to be. The program is full of other helpful classes such as skate maintenance and nutrition, just to mention a couple. All very helpful.

I must admit, I started in-line skating as a cross-training sport for road cycling, but after spending the last few weeks with Trish and the Team, I have been drawn in and plan to make inline marathons a goal for some time to come!!!!

 Thanks Trish.