Breaking in new boots

I planned this post about breaking in the new boots as a diary, I wrote each day after I skated what I did and how the boots felt.

The new boots were heat molded on my foot in the boot shop. Then, the blades were installed using screws on the temporary, not round but oval, spaces in the blade frames, so you can move the blade to the left and right using that oval guidance.

The first feel, off ice, at home, was they were tight but very comfortable. Also I wasn't having any problem in bending the ankle. I wore them in the house, bend the knees and ankles, then I tighten the laces more and repeat several times... It all felt fantastic, except my surefeet insoles (that weren't put into the new boot in the store) were pocking in the soles of my feet. I thought as the boot is tight, there is not enough space for that insole, and I planned to put it in after the boot foam compressed a little. I removed them and put the manufacturer insole and it felt good, just some pressure under the heal.

The first day on ice, Saturday, when I stepped on ice... it felt that I was on rental skates. I felt absolutely no support. There are few things here.  It seems that that lovely comfy foam padding, needs time to compress, it doesn't mold by just heat molding and walking off ice... So when I was pressing into the boots I hadn't have immediate response. I pressed, but I've met no resistance, just soft foam... so I couldn't steer the blades. Secondly, the blades were not aligned properly. It is normal that even if they feel aligned off ice (they were aligned in the store), they need adjusting depending how they feel on ice.  Thirdly, the new boots are a hybrid, they have regularly tall front so they offer support for jumping (up to doubles), but they cut lower in the back, allowing for toe pointing for dance, so I need to adjust to that.  Anyway, I did mostly swizzles and stroking, some shy edges... I've also tried backward swizzles and I fell at the first one The very foamy tongue kept me more upright, so I needed to press way more, but also it felt that after the push, the tongue was bouncing back and pushing me, so I've had to maintain the pressure on it.  I've got off ice often to retie the boots. I've also took the boots off the foot to adjust a little the blade, unscrew a little the temporary screws and move them slightly left or right...  I was more off ice then on ice.

The second day on ice, Monday, the foam felt like it started to compress at points. I was able to tighten more, and had a lot more shoe lace left after I tied them. I also knew better what to expect... And I finally understood the rules of braking in the boots... slowly. Because if you force them, they'll form creases in the wrong places. Firstly, the boot needs to form on the foot, then, and only then, the ankle should be pressed more heavily. This second day I was able to stroke more freely, and do crossovers and chasses both forward and backward. I feel that these are doing a great job in softening the ankle foam. I've realized I have to much space in the toe area and it's gonna be impossible to tighten by hand in that area, so I stopped by the skate shop to have the boots heat molded again. I also mentioned to them that I feel some pain under the heel, like I have a bump. They didn't look at it, but said they can grind the bumps.

On the third day of skating, Tuesday,  I've realized that while the foam has compacted even more, I've  felt extra space in the boots. I've felt some space under the arch of the foot so I've put back in the insoles with arch support. Oh no... big pressure, something pocking in the sole of my foot, not only in heal and the arch, but in what seamed random spots. This day I would have been able to do a lot more on ice, I did a lot more, but just a little of everything because of the pain.  I also couldn't get on an outside edge of both feet, I know that I pronate on the right foot, and in the past I've had wedges inserted under the blade's frame, but the left foot was a mystery. So, I looked/felt inside of the boots and felt the sole uneven, I had a bump in the back of the arch of the foot, including on the outside side, that would explain why I couldn't get on outside edges! 

 I went again to the skate shop, that luckily is close by this new rink I'm skating on. The technician there, got weird... I mean this was another technician than the one I started working with. He said well, as I know you didn't choose what we first recommended (I'll come to this later), now you have too much space in your boot. We'll have to work with what we have.  He wanted firstly to try the foam insoles under the surefeet insoles. Maybe using both insoles it will both fill in the space and soften those bumps so I won't feel them and this better fit would also allow me to get on an outside edge.  I knew from adjusting the skiing boots, that that the top of the boot should maintain the round form, if you tighten too much, you'll collapse your arches, so at that point you have to fill in the space underneath so I was happy with their direction. I did try the boots in the shop for 1 minute and they definitely felt better. 

Wednesday I didn't skate but I wore the boots in the house, and I've got the pain back after like 10 minutes, and became unbearable after another 5 minutes. I called the shop and they said they didn't have any appointment until after holidays. I told them, look yesterday I had the appointment to grind, you choose not to, barely even looked at the bump. I have 3 more prepaid, nonrefundable skating days, quite far from my house, but close to the boot shop. After the holidays it's gonna be extra hard for me to drive so far for them to keep adjusting... They said to stop buy in the morning and they'll do their best. I wore the boot more in the house to identify more precisely where exactly I hurt. On the left boot I had a big pain spot in the middle of the foot, not really the arch. On the left foot I hurt on the outside of the sole, just under my heel, this was a terrible pain as it was bone pain. There were also spots on both feet that seemed random, depending on how I stayed in the boot, where I pressed.

So Thursday, before skating, I stopped by the skating shop again I went at 10.30, my  ice was at 1.30... I stayed in the shop all that time. They really had to take me in between clients, and they were truly busy. First chance they had they look at the boots and listen to me. the, between customers, they grounded (meaning sanded by hand) for probably 15 minutes total. I was the most concerned with the bone pain in the right foot, as a bone bruise it's hard to heal, so I would think they would have worked 10 minutes on the right boot, and 5 minutes on the left one. And off I went, skating... Firstly, the great news. Using both insoles fills in the space in boots very nicely. I started to feel I have control so I've even tried backward 3-turns and brackets (that are the most difficult turns I can do) successfully. Then the good news, the pain that bothered me the most, on the right foot bone, was gone. The bad news is that it moved towards the middle of the foot like on the left foot... and the pain in the left foot... still there, a little better but not manageable. Also the outside edge were nowhere to be found. So I had to go back for them to do more grinding and also to add wedges to aligned the blade.  Unfortunately, the next appointment available was next Tuesday and I still had nonrefundable skating time Saturday.

Saturday the fifth day on ice, I almost didn't want to go, as I had no new adjustments. I mostly went to make a video of the outside edges not happening, to show to the skate shop technician. When I've got there, I decided to try an adjustment, to switch the insoles, put the hard one with the arch support in first and the soft on on top to hopefully soften the pressure. And it did... for a while, but when the pain came back, it came back fully... Until I've got the pain I could skate very nicely, the boots felt snug. I still couldn't get on the outside edge.

I had some time to think and talk to some skating friends between Saturday and Tuesday. At first I was hopeful because with 10 minutes of grinding that left foot bone pain was gone. But then I looked again at the inside of the boot and saw that the very back part of the sole had 4 screws, to probably secure the heel of the boot to the sole, and that part, with the screws, was lower. It felt like a lot, towards an eight of an inch. That would mean, of course that immediately after that lower region, there was a risen region, the bump... That's exactly what I've felt in the right sole. So, the logic would be, that a whole eight of an inch should be grounded from where the low part of the sole of the boot ended, to the front of the boot, inside the boot. I just didn't see how that grind could be kept uniform, to keep that anatomic shape of the sole, and how would be grounded at the front of the boot. One of my skating friends knew exactly what I was talking about, she said don't let them grind, that is gonna make it worse, have them try to build up the low part of the heel. Another friend was shocked that I wasn't fitted in the first place with the surefeet insoles in.