Great Skate #4 - Mel Lastman Square

Skating burns approximately 500 calories an hour.

The rate varies of course, depending on your size, sex and speed. But if you're an "average" woman, the rate is somewhere between 425 and 515 calories an hour.

Which was a good thing on January 21st, when Cathy, Nicole, Gilles and I hit the rink at Mel Lastman Square after enjoying a massive brunch at Cathy's house. I'm not sure we burned off all the calories from the croissants, cheese scones, "special" eggs and other yummy things we enjoyed, but we made a good attempt.

Mel Lastman Square will probably be the most northerly rink the Great Skate visits in Toronto. It's a long TTC ride from the Beaches, but it's very nice once you get there. During the warmer months, the rink is a reflecting pool in the square. It's ringed by benches, and there are lockers and washrooms in the civic building a few steps away.

There was a real mix of ages and skating abilities while we were there, and everyone seemed to be having fun. The music playing was a mix of disco and eighties classics, inspiring Nicole and Gilles to try out some skating tricks. (Low technical scores, but they deserved extra points for enthusiasm.)

Skate design was a recurring motif of Great Skate #4. Nicole and I compared our "vintage" skates: mine are ordinary white figure skates that I've had since I was in my teens, hers are about the same age, made of pink plastic. Cathy has nifty new skates that look like running shoes on blades. A woman overheard us discussing skate styles and came over to show us her new ones, which have easy-to-tie elastics instead of laces. And we saw one boy with Spider Man skates. (Did Peter Parker know how to skate?)

Nice hat, Gilles.



Location: 5100 Yonge St, North York, ON M2N 5V7, Canada

Comments

Nicole said…
Hey! My backwards "shimmy" deserves at least an 8 for Artistic merit! And my skates are not just "pink plastic". At the time they were the height of fashionable skating - known as "molded" skates - supposedly much more comfortable than those white antiques that you were wearing, Leigh. But, I tell ya', my toes have been really hurting ever since our adventures in Mel Lastman square. Still, it was an honour to be a part of Great Skate #4!!
January 28, 2012 at 11:56 AM
Leigh said…
I hope your toes recover so you can come out to another Great Skate someday!
January 28, 2012 at 2:48 PM
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