Progress on the new skates, but it's slow

[dreamshark]

I finally found somebody to ice skate with me and she successfully dragged me out me out of my grouchy Sunday den to skate on Lake of the Isles yesterday. It was a lot more fun the first time we did that, to tell the truth. Yesterday was a mediocre skating day at best - helluva north wind, soggy ice. But for some reason it was also more crowded, in particular crowded with hockey players (the plague of figure skaters everywhere). But it did give me another 45 minutes in the new skates. My feet were starting to chafe a little at that point, but I didn't actually get any blisters this time.

Man, this is a painful process. I had the toes stretched out a second time at the shop where I bought them, this time overnight, and it definitely helped. But new leather skate boots are just thick and heavy and take a while to mold to your feet. I'm planning to wear them in class tonight, but I'm a little nervous about it. They are actually much better skates than the old ones, but I'd developed some techniques in the flimsy old skates that I now realize were built around lots of ankle flexibility (i.e., crappy ankle support). Specifically, all of my stopping moves tend to make me fall on my ass when I try them in the new skates. :-(

Comments

And when you have gotten really good....

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

And then are people going to be saying about you, "She thinks she can walk on water...."??

Nate

[hakatrip.livejournal.com]

I had to buy new rollerskates three years ago. My previous ones were given to me in 1983. The leather boot on the left started to literally fall apart. The last time I wore them all ankle support vanished in an instant, I nosedived into the floor at high speed, and rentals started to look good. Yikes.

My new skates took me over a year to break in to the point that I felt I was nearing "old skate" skill levels. This with skating once a week. I still occasionally take the stretchers to them as I have bunions and have to wear orthotics, and that takes room. I bought skates with a fluffy tongue, which I just love. I used to get blisters on the front of my ankles, but not with these.

They have foam pads for sale at our skate shop, for blister protection. Those might extend your skating sessions in your new boots.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

"I had to buy new rollerskates three years ago. My previous ones were given to me in 1983. The leather boot on the left started to literally fall apart. The last time I wore them all ankle support vanished in an instant, I nosedived into the floor at high speed, and rentals started to look good. Yikes."

Yikes, indeed! Something like that was happening to my much newer but very cheaply constructed skates. I decided to get new ones before the eyelets completely ripped out, which made it possible to transition gradually to the new skates.

"My new skates took me over a year to break in to the point that I felt I was nearing "old skate" skill levels."

Oh dear. I'm not sure whether to take that as discouraging or encouraging. I guess I'll go with the latter. Just because the new skates still don't feel all that good doesn't mean that I should give up on them.

"They have foam pads for sale at our skate shop, for blister protection. Those might extend your skating sessions in your new boots."

I'm using those wonderful new high-tech blister bandaids with the gel filling. I love those things. Yesterday I was smart enough to put some on BEFORE I got blisters. Or rather, INSTEAD of getting blisters.