Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I was able to skate last month just an average of twice per week. The rest of  December I think it's gonna be even less, and definitely less quality because the kids are on vacation so the ice is gonna be crowded.

I don't make new years' resolutions as I find that the "new year" is just a random moment in time. But I do find myself having a little bit a quiet time, after very busy times, to gather my thoughts about past, present and future (skating). So this new year is, after all, a good moment for resolutions!

I started skating, around 15 years ago, just group lessons once a week. Around 10 years ago I've realized I could progress with the help of private lessons and a committed training schedule. I had my goal to get to look like an intermediate level skater, and I think I did it. 

Troubles started few years ago when my Riedell boots broke down and the model I was wearing is not produced anymore. I have low volume  and flexible (I'm hypermobile) foot, and none of the 5 boots I've tried, including customs (with the help of very good bootfitters) were fitting well. I skate now in Riedell boots half a size smaller that I would need for one foot (the other foot is smaller so it fits well) and stretched on the toe. It is the best solution between all I've tried after my old boots,  but I still don't feel secure in them. I'll have to live with that.

The second impediment seems to be time. 

And I think it is a vicious circle. Theoretically I could make time, like I did it in the past, by giving up other things. The problem seems to be that I don't feel I'll get a proportional reward (in enjoyment and progress in skating) compared with what I would have to give up. I guess this is mostly because of the boots...

Then, there is the muscle conditioning situation. In the past skating was enough (though maybe not ideal) to build the muscles I to needed to skate. Now I don't skate enough to sustain strong muscles, then, when I skate I'm getting very tired. Another vicious circle...

Another disappointment is that I'm unable to get lessons with my regular coach because the expressway construction makes the travel to the rinks where he teaches, unbearable.

I think I'll have to give up in prioritizing skating, and start doing other workouts regularly. I don't want to give up skating, I'm just unable to prioritize both skating and something else...

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

This month's skating is going as I've expected... slowly. I was able to skate only 2 times per week. 

The bad is that my muscle are tired after skating because I don't skate often enough, and  I am actually tired in general from all the work traveling I have to do.

The good is that I am paying attention to keep a continuity in purpose/ approach from one skating session to the next and I feel good about it. 

The plan is to keep going...

The boots situation

I'm remind you that I've had huge difficulty in choosing skating boots because my feet are skinny and flexible/hyper mobile so I need low volume boots. Riedell used to be a good fit but they'd raised the toe box, to me it feels that all the boot was raised and now their boots feel large, especially at toes but also at the ankles. Other difficulties are that I pronate on my right foot, maybe on my left too, more recently, and my left foot is half size longer than my right foot. After working with 3 different bootfitters and trying different models and brands, and a custom Riedell,  I bought in desperation half a size smaller Riedel boots online. The right boot fits quite well, the left was short, the toe still felt high, ankle felt better. So I've added felt insoles to take off some of the extra height, I'm wearing surefeet insoles to help the pronation and I had the left foot stretched at the big toe. I've also felt the need to move the left blade forward, against the bootfitters advice, but it works...  I'm at the point when  the right foot (the bad foot that pronates) feels better than in my old boots. The left foot still feels crooked in the boot, or on the blade, I'm not quite sure.

I had the left foot stretch again because the bootfitter said that it may reverse and it helped... a little. I was feeling that the big toe had no room to stay straight and was so cramped towards middle that I cannot get on the inside edge because I couldn't put my weight solidly on the inside of the boot. I also felt my foot twisted inside the boot, the toe towards the right (towards outside) and the heel towards the left (towards inside). After the stretch I felt I had more room, the toe felt straight as alignment, but it was not straight in length, I get pain in the arch and nail, and it still felt twisted. 

Now the twist I solved! It was the insole... I bought new ones for the new boots, as from the old pair the right one was cut incorrectly at the arch. Now on the new pair the left insole looked wonky, it was cut straight not at the arch but on front towards inside, I compared with the old one... I put the old one in and Yey!!! No more twisting...

I've debated in my mind between going again to the bootfitter to stretch more, or going to a shoe maker and it just takes so much time and it is soo draining. I've decided to try to stretch it myself. I warmed the boot inside with the hair dryer, but when I put the boot on my foot it didn't feel warm anymore. I warmed the outside of the boot at the toe with the hairdryer and it felt a little playable. I still have unused height on the toe, so heating it I was able to transfer some of that height in lenght. I did this twice, just before I went skating and I have the feeling that that toe box lining stayed payable even when I've got to skate and it continued to mold. It definitely worked. I may have to do this again occasionally but for now it feels good.

The thing left is the actual blade alignment for this left boot. I have to reach that placement that helps the outside edges by moving the blade and adding shims at the inside side, but not as much that it doesn't allow me to do the inside edges. Part of this feel could be incorrect body alignment, so I'm still trying, I move my blade and observe. Obviously this affects my balance both physically and mentally. I cannot wait for the moment when I'll feel I'm done with trying and have the blade mounted permanently But I think I've solved some big issues and I am happy I haven't given up trying and this motivates me to trust my body and to keep adjusting while I have the feeling I can improve the alignment.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Last month I was hoping to get into a skating rhythm as the ice availability increased. While I've skated 3 times per week, one week 4 times, I don't feel I've gotten a rhythm. I like to skate Monday, Wednesday, Friday and I couldn't do that. I was also not able to make a skating session plan of what exercises to work on. The challenges from the skating side are the same, ice availability including quality and how crowded it is, boots not being ideal, loosing muscle conditioning as soon as I don't skate for a week, then muscle soreness, difficultly in getting enough plant protein. I feel all these are improving... some more than others. I think I'll get into details into separate posts, it is too much to write. One thing I will say, because I complained in the last post about the ice, the ice did get better!

The new challenge seems to be that my "life" schedule gets in the way of skating regularly both as which days in the week I can go skating and what kind of energy and mindset I have when I skate. And my schedule for the next few months is very uneven, this month for example I'm traveling for 3 weekends so no skating those 3 Fridays. I think the next step is to accept all these and find ways to skate "around" them. I used to try to find ways to be more "flexible" that was basically telling myself to adjust to whatever conditions I get, and it helped up to a point. I think instead of a skating rhythm that I don't seem to be able to get often, and flexibility that helps to keep skating doesn't help to move forward, I need now to look for some continuity in what I do when on ice.

Writing all these I'm realizing I'm actually looking again for progress, that means I feel it's possible!

The plan for this month is to keep going!

The ice situation

As school started and the ice rinks schedule changed so I actually have choices of where I can go to skate.

My "home ice": pros, it has close 15 to 20 min away, has noon ice for adult figure skating only, it is only $3, it is familiar and I know most of the skaters! Cons, this ice is only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it became crowded at the end of last season and because of some major construction on the expressway driving home takes around 40 min.

The hockey rink is very very close, at the end of last season the ice was quite empty, but their schedule is totally random.

The "new" rink takes 20 minutes to it and 25 minutes to get home. Pros: they have ice Monday through Friday, at the end of last season it was not crowded, and they offer a season pass for $100! Cons: this ice is "public skate" so kids and hockey players are allowed and it is at 11.30, a little early for me as I like to get some work done before I go skating. I calculated that if I skate 3 times a week for $3 as my home rink would bring me to $50 per month, so I decided to pay the season pass anyway.

As I went to the "new" rink for the first session of the season, first week of September... the ice was not made. There weer 2 coaches ate the front desk complaining that it was not made for their session too. It seems as the schedule was new, the zamboni driver was not aware of the ice making schedule. He did the ice half hour into the session, 2 skaters that were on ice already got upset, the rest f us were happy.  And the rest of the week was fine.

The second week on Monday, the ice was not done again. I was explained that the rink created a program the kids from the local high school to try skating and I guess it was not in the schedule, so an ice make was not in the schedule. I asked if they'll add it i the schedule and they said they'll try but anyway they hope to have more of that program happening so ice make may not be consistent. I explained that when I come skating for a specific session the expectation is that the ice is made. As the people that got upset the previous week for interrupting their skating with an ice make got on ice immediately, on chopped ice, I decided to leave to my "home" rink as their ice started at 12. It was same old ice, so if the "new" rink ends up not working out I do have a backup. And that was comforting, because on Tuesday the high school program happened during the public skate, I cannot do much skating dome in that situation. Wednesday was fine, Thursday I took a break. Friday, before the public skate was a hockey game and the ice making was a little late and a little rushed. The driver didn't clean the snow left by the zamboni, there were like 20 pretty large of at least an inch ball. This "snow"  is wet and as ice dries the snow transforms in rocks, super dangerous.I let the front desk know and we picked up what we could but I was still catching debris so I decided to skate just in the middle. It left me worried about this "new" rink working out, it's just that I skated there for almost 2 months in the summer and it was fine.

From then on, ice was fine! 

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Oh well... after my last post I was unable to skate for... 3 weeks. Nothing bad, just work and volunteering. Part of volunteering was actually for skating, my club organized a competition and I've helped. The other volunteering time went into saving cats and kittens and it is kitten season so lots of saving is needed. 

Going back to skating, the lesson that I took last month helped me to stay interested and gave me hope that once I will be able to commit to a skating 3 times a week and I'll start taking lessons, I will be able to progress some more. Also from end of August when kids go back to school, there is more ice available, emptier and at more uniform and convenient time for me.

The plan for this month is to skate as much as I can so hopefully I form a habit and a schedule...

Lesson

I haven't have lessons in couple of years now,  from when my boots trouble began. Now that I'm settling in/ with my boots, I thought a lesson would help. 

One of my goals was to see if some particular hesitations are because of technique or because of blade alignment. I asked my coach to tell me if he sees anything wrong with the blade, but it was unrealistic to expect him to look at all my body to give technique corrections and to look at the blade at the same time. He didn't tell me anything about the blade. I have though some technique corrections (body alignment) consistent with what I feel was wrong with my balance/alignment on the blade, so I may have I've got my answer. Correct the technique first!

The second goal was to get corrections, not so much for the sake of improving immediately, but more to help me see where I'm at and where I could go. I need to set some goals, because lately I've felt I was skating aimlessly.

Corrections:

• Forward slalom- put the weigh back on the blade and actually push into the knees and draw to the boards
• Backward slalom- I was forward on my blade, shoulders back, that would put the weight where it should be, at the back of the foot ball
• F xovers on the line with FI extension- when pushing from the axis push perpendicularly away, to the boards
• B xovers with BO extension- I was scratchy and extension was tense and not high, push shoulder back! This as on the B slalom took me off the toe pick , but also helped the extension. I think this will help the B extension in many places. When trying to improve B extension myself I was pushing the hips forward (that was an old correction I've got)
• F and B power xovers in spiral pattern- for this I needed help in setting the pattern, and that is 2-3-5-7 per semicircle and that made sense on ice but as I am looking at the drawn diagram, there are actually just 11 and the instruction says there should be no more than 15 xovers total 
• FO 3s- on exit edge, body weight should be on the lower back  of skating leg side, I was allowing the shoulders to go ahead by pitching forward, basically not checking correctly and the 3s whipped
• B3s both O and I- on entry edge shoulders back over the circles, and on knees together on exit edge
• dance F progressives- push perpendicularly away from the axis, into the boards
• dance B progressives- same, also, don't hook after push and shoulders back
• TenFox - same, especially the 3 turn
• FO Brackets- shoulders over circles, not just arms, don't rebend before the turn (made me overturn), FOL don't drop shoulder
• FI edge that I complained I had problems with possible because of the blade... the lean doesn't come from the ankle and knee actually the foot should be aligned over the blade (even slightly towards outside), the FI edge needs only a slight lean from the body. And yeap, it makes sense, when I've leaned the boot, I've pulled the body too much towards inside and basically lost control and in order to balance I've ended up leaning my body towards outside

As I've expected this month seems that I'm able to skate just twice a week. That is not enough for the body to remember the alignment between sessions. But it also means that I can reset the body and start fresh. I'm exited to get back to work on these correction!

 

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

The plan last month was to continue observing my schedule and rinks schedule, equipment, muscle building and protein in food to help, and motivation, in order to be able to improve. I've also planned to "take it as it comes".

And I am content. I think I found a kind of a balance, meaning, that I skated enough in the context of rink schedule, work and not feeling well. I was able to skate 3 times per week the first 3 weeks, twice the 3rd week (because of work) and just once the last week of July (I was not feeling well). I've made progress in the equipment department as I finally was able to stretch my left boot and after that I continued to fine tune the blade alignment. Muscles are still tired but I feel I push harder, it gets easier to manage the food protein, and my stamina is better for sure. Motivation... I've set a lesson for August 15th and knowing that I'll have to show my coach "something" definitely gave me bust in my training.

In August I have work/ volunteering commitments every Friday so realistically I don't think I'm gonna be able to skate 3 times per week.  I think the month of August can be an "observing and gathering information month", but I hope that is gonna transition into a more intentional training starting with September.

That is because more ice is gonna be available so I will be able to skate more, add lessons or at least it's gonna take pressure off my schedule so I can rest more, enjoy the summer, cook, exercise/ stretch.With more time on my hands I can work more intense at finalizing the blade alignment. I think an improvement in any of these will help skating.

Almost vegan: the edited Trader's Joe Greek Salad

Trader's Joe has a Greek packed salad. It is 2.5 portions and has some chopped lettuce (not a lot), same red cabbage, chopped cucumbers, olives and roasted red peppers, onion, a little bit of feta (that is why I call myself almost vegan) and an envelope of dressing with what it looked like oil, vinegar and herbs. When I've tried the first time I mixed all the ingredients and firstly it was waaay to sour (to much vinaigrette) and I as I had romaine leaves in my fridge I added quite a lot of them. The taste of rest of the ingredients still came through, maybe except the onion. 

The next time when I bought this prepacked salad, I added extra onion, cucumber lettuce and it became a favorite very quick to put together salad that could feed few people also didn't wilt so I could refrigerate it and have the leftover the next day.

On one of this "next day" as I saw there was still lots of vinaigrette on the bottom of the salad bowl I thought to add some beans, I had cannelloni beans around (meanwhile I tried with pinto beans also) and it was soo good.

I played with adding plant protein. Here is a pic with the salad with added garbanzo beans, but I do prefer this salad with the cannelloni or pinto beans.

Fourth week of July

Monday my skating went quite badly. I was very stiff. It may be because I haven't skated from the previous Wednesday, or I had a very static work weekend, or it was very hot outside, or all of them combined... I took a fall on my left knee, it was an uncharacteristic fall/ stiff, so I decided to take it easy to ease myself back into softer knees.

Wednesday and Friday I didn't feel well. I've got headaches and body aches, I think from the air conditioning. I could have gone and skate "easy" but Monday skating made it clear that I don't enjoy taking it easy.

What I've done is I contacted my coach to hopefully schedule a lesson, just one for now. I hope that would carry me through till fall. As there will be more ice available and I will be able to spend less time/ energy driving to skating and actually skate more. And maybe also I could set a regular lessons schedule.

Third week of July

Monday and Wednesday were kind of the same. I was a little tired maybe because of the bad air quality, or maybe because it is quite hot. I went to the farther away rink, the session is just 1 hour and I was slightly late each day. That didn't give me time to play with the blade alignment for the newly stretched boot, but I do think there is improvement and also slight room for improvement, I am happy about that!

I've ran through all my exercises and the Tenfox, they all go reasonably well but I feel sloppy and without much flow.

I'm trying to improve the back spin (on which I felt a breakthrough the previous week when I've got a long spin on an accidental inside edge). The good news is that if I get on the inside edge the spin goes better, but I cannot get on it consistently, I think I'm leaving the upper body behind, as I used to do with the forward spin.

The next thing I work on consistently are the Twizzles. The CCW is rotating twice, the CW still not, maybe once- it almost did. I'm drilling short/ flat3 turns, 2 foot spins in the CW direction and Mo and FI 3s in the CW directions, I think that helps. I've also observed that everything, including Twizless, go better when I have a good posture day. I'm planing to observe if the posture and core engagement is better after days when I work my core muscles.

I couldn't skate on Friday.

Second week of July

Monday was a pretty good skating day, so good that I had very sore muscles. I've ran through all my exercises for Adult Gold Skating Skills (the moves in the fields now are called skating skills) and for dance, and the Tenfox. I even took a fall and that is said to be proof that the skater works hard and pushes over comfort zone to be able to progress.

Wednesday was not so good, I was surely a little tired and it was crowded. It rained heavily and I guess people that couldn't do their activities outdoors, came in for a skate. I didn't feel safe to ran my usual exercises on the lenght of the rink, so I worked on spots. I did have breakthrough on the back spin that had up to then an inconsistent number of rotations and it always ended with loss of balance. Now I accidentally hit a strong inside edge on the spinning foot and the spin kept going, I was able to repeat it several times. Fingers crossed it will show up on the next test session. The forward spin is finally where it was 2 years ago when I started to look for new boots, is is crossed and centered. I see the strong skaters centering with the free foots extended and then crossing it, I cannot do that, I'm rushing to cross, I guess worrying to not lose my balance, but that is something I want to work on. I even try some change of foot spinning, with one successful try at low speed. I'm avoiding to spin too much as I still have a temporary mount on my blade. I'm still not jumping for the same reason. I also work on FI twizzles whenever I'm on ice. On my right leg, so counterclockwise rotation, I get 2 rotations (a tiny bit wobbly but improving). The left foot is stuck on 1 revolution. Like with all moves that are better on one side, I analyze the good side, the bad side and compare... I've realized that on the right foot I'm pressing in the boot and on the blade, on the back part of my arch, and on the left foot I cannot get an uniform pressing, and so, of course, I'm wobbly. I'm getting back to the idea that I have to have the left boot stretched a little more. It is slightly small and I feel my big toe is pushed towards the middle and I think that is why I cannot keep a constant pressure, for twizzles, but for obviously for everything else.  As I'm going through all these, suddenly Wednesday doesn't sound so bad.

Friday morning I've called the bootfitter and he answered! (I called occasionally during the last 2 months and either he didn't answer, either our schedules didn't align) and we agreed to drop the boots after I skate and pick them up Saturday morning. Skating felt good, I ran all my usual exercises. I paid more attention to the twizzles and I've felt the same need to stretch the front of the left boot. I've remembered about the back spin very late, and... it was semi successful. I cannot wait until Monday to work on it again! And on twizzles, as I'll have the boot streatched.

Almost vegan: lentil stew with soy mashrooms

Being that I am almost vegan I eat lots of plant base protein like all kind of beans and legumes. I like to cook my own so I can add some aromatics (like bay leaves), to control the salt and avoid the potential health issues of eating canned products packed in metal cans. I cook big patches and I freeze some portions. I also try to have in the pantry cans with every variety of beans when I need them and I don't have in the freezer. 

However there is one type of legume that I loved cooked by me, and cannot tolerate canned, and that is lentils. Luckily they cook quickly, in 20 minutes. I add flavor and sweetens by starting with sauteing a small onion with turmeric, black pepper, bay leaves and coriander seeds. Then I add the lentils and water and it is done.

I pair the with lots of things. One of the latest paring was with mushrooms. I start by sauteing the quartered mushroom without salt (salt makes them watery) and after they they brown a bit I salt, pepper usually garlic and whatever I'm in mood for like more garlic, wine, parsley, and this time I remember seeing a recipe with soy glaze... so I added soy instead of salt. It cooked down to a glaze very quickly and it had more "umami" than my other versions. And it paired really well with the lentil stew and a simple mixed green salad on the side.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

The plan for last month was to get back into skating and to develop awareness of positive and negative factors affecting my skating so I can plan better for the future. More specifically, I planned to skate 3 times a week, work continuously on the blade alignment, pay attention to building muscles, stamina, add more protein to my diet (plant base protein, as I'm almost vegan), and work on finding goals and motivation.

It was not easy, the first 2 weeks I had to push myself to go skating, there were also moments of doubts that I could get myself to skate regularly and enjoy it. But by the 3rd week I started to feel less tired, the boots felt better and better. I also found one more rink I cold eventually skate at, and with more sessions available, there are more chances to do skate 3 times a week, so less pressure. I kind of did it! I feel I've finally got where I was planning to get 6 months ago, after I've got the new boots (well 2 years ago if I make it about boots, because it was 2 years and 4 pair of bots that I've went through). Anyway, analyzing all the points from my post last month...

- Equipment (boots and blades) is a big issue, I think it is the biggest deciding factor in keeping skating. The boots are still not as tight as my previous ones (because of the new high toe box design of Riedell), I feel hesitant when I change the lobes/edges quickly. The harder I tie them, the better, but I've got feet pain.The blade alignment is not worse than I had 2 years ago, the issue is the same, I pronate on my right foot so I would need corrective insoles, only I have hyper mobility and the corrective insoles gave me  plantar fasciatis. I am stuck with commercial insoles and wedges between the blade and the boots. I may try again some extra wedge in my right boost, the left felt fine for few sessions in a row.

- Rinks: My home rink and the hockey team rink are in the city, they are at 15 minutes drive without traffic, up to 30 with traffic, the advantage is that I can run errands in my way to or from the rinks. I went occasionally for lessons at rinks on north suburbs at 30 minutes without traffic, to 45 minutes with regular traffic, drive on expressway. BUT, there is big repairs done on the expressway so I get 40 minutes towards the rink AND between 1 hour and 1 hour and a half coming back... that is just not doable for my life. My home rink doesn't have ice that fits my schedule in the summer, and before the summer, it was very crowded anyway. The hockey rink has a different schedule and level of crowdiness every day, plus days without ice.  But, I found Monday, Wednesday, Friday noon public skate, not crowded for the 2 sessions I went to, at a west suburb at 30 minutes driving both way, hopefully it will work! 

- Food, the attention to add more protein, I think had a bigger impact than I realized. The half portion of vegan protein shake that I succeed in drinking after skating (it is too sweet for my taste o drink more of it) definitely helps. Keeping track of the more successful recipes with added plant base protein, was also a good idea, because I have plenty of less successful, so less enjoyable ones. 

- The muscles felt better as I skated more regularly. I also went to a weekend gentle yoga class, that felt more like restorative yoga, and it felt great, I hope to keep it in my schedule. I'm trying to add some arms and core exercises at home, with mixed success.

 - Motivation. As I expected, when I started enjoying skating, I wanted to go... I didn't have to push myself. The only thing I figured out that helps with motivation, is consistency, or it is actually the other way around, lack of consistency hurts motivation. For now, I just wanted to get back into a rhythm, and consistency is the key, but if I'll work again for progress I know I will get frustrated  so I need too keep looking for things that help.

For the next month I plan to keep an eye on all these. Ideally I would take a lesson, maybe start to really work towards future tests... I thought that if this month will go as the last 2 weeks of last month I will be happy enough. This week I skated Monday and it was fine, Thursday a complete disaster (I was stiff and distracted, and the public session at the hockey rink was crazy busy), then it was better but not good on Friday. So  think it is a wise plan to take it as it comes...

Forth week of June

Monday: I went to the hockey rink to the public skate session and it was crowded... there were 3 fast hockey players, few good figure skaters, few beginner figure skaters that were occupying the circles and few wobbly "public" skaters. My right heal and hip ware also hurting during the weekend, I couldn't figure out why. While skating, my right foot didn't feel quite right (up to now it was the left one). There is some roughness at the back of the boot, I hope it is not because of that, because I don't know how it can be fixed. It could be because I tightened the laces too much and I forced the arches down. It could be just that I'm getting older... We'll see... Anyway, skating was slow and interrupted. And as I checked the schedule, the hockey rink has public skate around noon all every day up to Friday, but freestyle just Friday. The other rink has also public skate, I'm wondering if it would be less crowded.

Tuesday: I was looking at the rings schedule for the week, and the hockey rink has freestyle session (that I prefer) only on Thursday and nothing on Friday. The 3rd rink has public skate on Friday but as it is further away and I don't know how crowded it gets I'm not very motivated to go there. So, on Tuesday, as my right foot was hurting less, and I didn't feel my muscles very tired, I thought let's skate, then take a break on Wednesday and skate on Thursday. This public session was less crowded than the one on Monday and I skated slightly better. The thing is I may undervalue myself... Up to now I was working at the double 3s and brackets on a line across the rink, staring from standing and probably on a smaller lobe than standard. Now I put them on the lenght of the rink on bigger lobes. It feels I'm doing worse than before, but I think I'm just making adjustments. Meanwhile, the dances go well.. I'm training the TenFox that is working throughout, European Waltz (the 3's are controlled, I need more flow) and the Foxtrot where first part goes at full speed and the part with the outside Mo is slower but I think it almost has flow out of it, which feels like an improvement from 2 years ago when I last work at it.

The boots... So, I pronate on the right foot and I have weaker hip on the left side from an old injury) so  I have trouble with the outside edges. The left boot feels fine now (I used to feel the blade is crocked and the heel felt "in" and I ended up having to move the front of the blade "out", the logic is that when the blade was more "in" at the front, it allowed the front of my foot to go "out" too easily, and that pushed the back of my foot towards "in"). I still consider stretching it in front to be able to push thru the whole sole of the foot. The right boot feels now like the left used to. It may also be that it feels worse now in comparison with the left one that finally feels better... but it is not worse than before? Anyway, I plan to play with it a little. 

 It was good that I skated Tuesday because Wednesday and Thursday I couldn't.

Friday, and the next week until Thursday, there was no ice available at the hockey rink. The further away rink has 1 hour public skate at noon on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and I decided to check it out. I was running a little late but I went. I caught a terrible traffic I suspect because of the holiday weekend and I got there at 12.35... I couldn't find parking because this facility also has an outdoor pool, so I lost few more minutes parking. I thought I'll go in to just check how crowded it is, but I did decide to skate... after I put the skates on, I had 15 minutes left. The win here is that now I'm familiar with this rink and I liked it, so I do have another option of where to go skating.

Third week of June

Monday: no mid day ice to any of the 3 rinks I use, they were either closed or had the schedule altered because of the holiday.

Tuesday: I went to the new rink, the hockey house, first time on the freestyle ice. It wasn't terribly crowded but there was a girl in a competition dress running her program over and over and I felt pressured to give her way as probably she will compete soon. Anyway, after a week off ice, I was happy to do my exercises at a slowish pace. 

Wednesday: there was ice available at noon at the 3rd rink, the one that's farther away, but work got in the way and I couldn't make it. Noon used to be my usual skating time, but lately I went to 1 or 2 pm at the hockey rink, so now 12  feels "early", especially because I would have to leave earlier as the drive takes longer. 

Thursday: I went again to the hokey rink from 2 to 3 pm on freestyle ice. This time was quite crowded, included one lady running the music and filming repeatedly for a virtual test and few adult skaters skating on the hokey circles. Still, I figured that this being a freestyle session, everybody would know the look of moves in the field done on lobes on the lengths of the rink, and I was right. At this point I'm again trying to ignore how the boots feel, because I think they are quite right and concentrate on technique. I'm doing the exercises from adult gold MITF, juvenile MITF (some moves are the same), some spins upright forward (where I'm just becoming comfortable to cross the free leg) and back spin (on what I'm getting just few revolutions), twizzles (that is my "most wanted" element so I plan to work at it consistently), some dance exercises and the Tenfox. It was the first skating day in a while, when I felt content!

I didn't get to skate the rest of the week, I think I relaxed because I saw that the next week, between the hockey and the 3rd rink, there are more skating sessions options for me to get to.

Second week of June

Oops, I did it again.. I skated just once this week...

As the kids summer vacation started,  the "adults figure skaters only" ice at my home rink is not offered anymore, I can only go on freestyle ice and that is sparse too. At the new rink I've heard that the public skate, where I was going for the last 2 weeks, gets busy while kids are on vacation. It is also not at consistent times on the day, and actually this week I see it offered just one day. They also have freestyle but the timing is as inconsistent as the public skate. I will have to decide every day where I to go.

Monday, I was busy with work. 

Tuesday, it rained cats and dogs and I didn't feel like going skating. But I've stuck to my plan to do my best to skate 3 times a week. I went to the new rink for public skate. It was busy but not unmanageable and I was happy that the music was not country as the last weeks :) I was stiff from not skating 4 days, but I picked up where I left of. The last modification on the blade felt quite good. I've decided that I definitely want the left boot punched at front a little because I feel a little cramped in there and I don't feel I press into my sole as efficiently as on the other foot.

Wednesday I felt my muscles were tired, anyway I don't usually skate 2 days in a row, my muscles get too tired and I it ends up messing the following skating days, so I decided to not go skating.

Thursday, I've tried really hard, but I couldn't drop the work during the available skating hours.

Friday, Saturday I've found ice only early morning, I wasn't mentally ready to go, but, I'm considering it an option moving forward.

Sunday, I've researched more rinks' schedules and I may have found one! My home rink and the hockey team rink are in the city, they are at 15 minutes drive without traffic, up to 30 with traffic, the advantage is that I can run errands in my way to or from the rinks. I went occasionally for lessons at rinks on north suburbs at 30 minutes drive on expressway without traffic, to 45 minutes with regular traffic. BUT, there is big repairs done on the expressway so I get 40 minutes towards the rink AND between 1 hour and 1 hour and a half coming back... that is just not doable for my life. But, I found Monday, Wednesday, Friday noon public skate at a west suburb at 30 minutes driving both way, hopefully it will work!

First week of June

Monday. I went to the new rink, the hockey house, and... I'm quite happy. We were only 4 skaters on ice, I was able to go through all my patterns and exercises without any interference. There are some inconveniences... It starts at 11am so I have 1 hour less time for work in the morning compared to when going to the 12pm session from the other rink. Also they had country music that I never listen to, I could go as far and say that I dislike it, but the rhythm is actually mostly waltzy, and that I like, so as long as I ignore the lyrics it's not tragic. In time I probably could use the earbuds and listen to my own music, though I don't think they are very good at noise canceling. For now I rather don't wear them for safety reasons too. The blade alignment... not perfect but not bad... I did get tired, I left 10 minutes early, but I did lots of skating. The protein powder I bough to help with muscle recovery it's nauseatingly sweet and gave me a little stomach pain, so much for a quick vegan protein fix. I'm thinking to try and mix it with oats and fruits.

Tuesday: I was thinking for a while now that I would like a lesson so I can get my coach's opinion on blade alignment. He will be able to see if some of my difficulties are actually technique/ body alignment problems and not blade alignment problems. The only thing is that I want to be in reasonable shape (not very tired, and not very hesitant) so I can show him full MITF exercises so he has enough to make an opinion. I know I cannot skate on Friday, so I thought let's try and skate on Tuesday, and if it goes well enough, have break on Wednesday and maybe set a lesson for Thursday. I went again o the new rink and while it wasn't crowded, there were 3 adults that took over specific patches of ice, like circles or lines, and a child, pretty good figure skater, that was going fast and not watching. I was not able to run my exercises on the full length of the rink, then mid session, I've got tired. Overall it wasn't a bad skating day, it just not left me confident enough to set a lesson. The boots felt pretty good, the left one feels not straight in whatever way I move the blade and that makes me think again that the boot may be too short, even if I'm not hurting, I may not be able to push into the blade effectively test, and I may have to punch it again.

Thursday: I did go skating and the one thing to report is that I am not feeling so tired anymore.

Almost vegan: cauliflower soup

I remind you that I'm trying to "up" my plant base protein intake (as I am almost vegan), and keep track of the more successful recipes.

This is a variation of the "healthy soup". I love, looove cauliflower! I wanted to be able to taste it, so I took out from the healthy soup what I thought will compete with the cauliflower delicate taste, and that was the cabbage, parsnip, tomatoes and buckwheat. 

I started with  sauteing onion, carrots, celery with salt, pepper and turmeric. I added one head of cauliflower, one sweet potato, chickpeas. At the end I added fresh dill. 

It was per my family, the best soup they had in a very long while!

Ingredients: onion, carrot, celery, cauliflower, sweet potato, chickpeas (as protein), and fresh dill

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

The plan, last month, was to get back into skating after two months off. I was also looking at the reasons I didn't skate. Most were valid scheduling issues, but some, were lack of motivation because the blade was still not in the permanent aliment position so I couldn't skate fully, I was trying to take it easy/ I didn't have any goals. So I set as priority to work on the blade alignment, to skate 3 times per week and to observe my reasons for motivation/ frustration in skating.

I think there is progress in the boot fitting and blade alignment. I figured I had to tighten the boot to the point of cramping, only then I had control and the changes in blade positioning didn't feel so important. The good news is that the boots will continue to mold on my feet, so eventually I will cramp less. The bad news is that during the last visit at the bootfiter, he nicked the corner of the sole on the heel, so I'm not sure if that will collapse, or if it is already collapsed, and I think I'll have to address this now, before continuing the work on alignment. I am exhausted from working with the bootfiters, I know they are doing their best, I know my feet are not perfect... it's just wearing me out. But, as I said, there was progress, so I have to keep pushing this until eventually gets done. The less I push, the longer it will take.

I expected that the muscle conditioning (and pain) is going to be a problem, but it is honestly more unpleasant than my expectations. The lesson here, is to do my best and not take so long breaks from skating, and if I really cannot go, do some squats and lunges. I don't work out beside skating (and ballet that I also stopped doing) but I think I can make myself do 10 squats and 10 lunges.

Food was also a problem, I need more protein to help the muscle growth, and as I am almost vegan I need to get creative with recipes (and I'm starting a category of posts about food with focus on plant based protein). I also ordered some protein powder, maybe that is gonna be an easy fix or at least help a little.

Rinks... the sessions I use to skate on Monday, Wednesday, Friday at noon for adult figure skaters only, used to be very quiet, but it is suddenly heavily populated by former high level competitors. They do watch out for the rest of us, but for me it is still very distracting. I still struggle mentally because I hurt my hip (is it now 4 years ago?) because a fast skater came close to me and I got spooked and I fell. Also I cannot keep straight my patters, or my thoughts, to be honest. I went and checked up the next closest rink to me, it is the rink of the local hockey team, they usually (not consistently) have an 11am public sessions. I didn't have time to skate but as it looked quite empty, I bought 10 passes (another parenthesis here, to complain that this rink is more expensive than my home rink). I feel that after I'll have the blade set, I'll be more adaptable and I could maybe go to my home rink, for now, I need quiet sessions. And that is gonna be a challenge, as the kids' summer vacation starts, there is less ice available because the rinks offer skating camps.

Motivation...is related with all these difficulties I've mentioned and the fact that I get frustrated. Few months ago I was trying to take a balanced approach to skating in order to hopefully avoid frustration. In my mind that was "take it easy" approach, but that ended with me not skating at all. I still think I should try and avoid frustration, that goes against motivation. I'll try and take the yoga approach and observe the difficulties without judgment, and keep going gently not pushing hard. Of course, specific goals would help, like to test the adult Gold MITF, but it is difficult to work  seriously at this while I'm still playing with the blade alignment, that changes my balance each time.

I also asked few of the skaters that skated as kids and keep going what it's their motivation to keep coming back, because I know we all have the same difficulties (work, family, scheduling, finances, aging body, traveling). One said, well, I'm unhappy if I don't skate, yeap... it is true for me too. But few said that music helps a lot, especially in those moments that skating doesn't go really well. So I'm revisiting my skating music playlist and I've ordered some wireless earbuds. I tried to avoid using them because that can be a safety issue, but I see the majority of the skaters on my regular session are using the, so I'll give it a try.

The forth week of May

 Monday: My muscles were sore from the previous week of skating and were also stiff because I had a work thing that required sitting for most of Saturday and Sunday.  Also there was an edge class with 10 of the good skaters I mentioned last week. I think that if they keep doing it, when my boots will be fine and I'll be getting back my balance, I'll ask to join... I'm not even close to their level but I cannot do my exercises with them sweeping the rink anyway. I was tense during the whole session and I couldn't concentrate on my alignment at all. I finished the session very tired and frustrated. I think I'll have to find alternative ice to practice on, such a bummer as this ice is the closest to me.

Tuesday: Because Monday's skating didn't go so well I looked up ice for Tuesday. My usual rink had ice at 1.45 but I had a meeting at 2.45. The only other rink close by me is the city's hockey team's new rink. They have public skate and even some freeskate ice every day with the note that it can be canceled without notice, so better call before going. I've heard good things about it. I've planned to go to check it out as they had ice from 1pm. Only, I client called at 12.15 and he talked and talked and then started over... I as already dressed but we finished at 1.10... with the 15 min drive there, the time needed to put on the boots and pay, it would have meant less than half hour skating. 

Wednesday: As I stepped on ice I was cautious and without any confidence. I felt my muscles were stiff and I couldn't remember how the blade alignment felt last time I skated. After few laps around I felt I needed to tighten the boots. Then... I felt better and better. I've run edges, 3 turns, forward double 3s. I felt off balance on backward doubles 3s and  brackets but not because of the blade, the blade felt acceptable. So I've decided I've run out of patience and move to some dance exercise. Those need more speed so trust in the blade, and... it wasn't bad. I had to dig deep to remember some dances but I felt content on how they went. So, I hope there is hope! I was very tired and focused while skating and I was quite tired all day after. Luckily I've had the healthy soup to recharge.

Friday: I woke up tired after a quite crazy work day on Thursday. Also my muscles were hurting a little and felt tired, that usually translates on ice in slow to react and of balance. I didn't felt like going skating, but I did. I was slow/ tired/ hurting. The ice was crowded, and the former elite skaters were there again. All in all I had so many hesitations that it made sense to take it easy. The boots weren't helping either. Mental note, what it seems it helped on Wednesday was that I tighten them quite extremely. I ended the session miserably tired and was tired all day long.

Almost vegan: the healthy soup

This soup is inspired by one of my friend's vegetable soup for weight loss. I don't have the exact recipe but I remember she used cabbage, cauliflower, sweet potato,  turmeric and fresh dill, cilantro and green onion on top. I remember it was filling enough and I really loved the sweet potato in it as it didn't feel as sweet as it is when cooked by itself.

 Because I'm almost vegan, all my meals, especially when I skate/ exercise, need to incorporate some (plant base) proteins, otherwise I cannot get enough protein to sustain muscle recovery/ gain. And so, my "healthy soup" always incorporates some kind of beans. I also a little add buckwheat, as I feel adds umami taste and it is healthy. I usually use the cabbage because it is filling and the sweet potato, because that gives me the signature taste of this soup.

I started with sauteing onion, carrots, celery and parsnip with added turmeric. Then I added cabbage and sweet potato. I had 3 long stalks of broccoli (the florets I've used already) and I used those instead of the cauliflower. I added chickpeas for my protein, buckwheat some preserved hot pepper and a can of crushed tomato. You cannot see the chickpeas and buckwheat in the picture and I didn't have any fresh herbs, but trust me, this soup hits the spot every single time!

Ingredients: onion, carrot, celery, parsnip, cabbage, sweet potato, broccoli, chickpeas (as the  main protein), buckwheat (also a pretty good source of protein), crushed tomatoes, salt, paper, turmeric and pickled hot pepper, ideally fresh dill should be also added

The third week of May

I'm reminding you that my skating intention/ plan is to skate 3 times a week, to focus on finalizing the blade alignment and to figure out goals and how to stay motivated.

Monday: Firstly the blade adjustment. I readjusted it before I got to the rink. The previous adjustment was to move it towards inside, and Friday, the time I skated I felt it was slightly too much, so I moved it towards outside, it felt too much... The good news is that the balance alignment should be in between these points. I will try a little more to try to get the in between spot. But I'm thinking I may need the boot punched a little more at the big toe. The reason I don't find that "middle" might be because that inside part of the foot doesn't have enough space to spread and the toe is pushed towards inside. Whatever it is, I can see that there is a solution but I'll have to stay on top of this. I also noted that I need to pay attention tie the laces tightly, if they are not tight enough at first try, it is difficult to get it right, I got them too thigh.

Skating went fairy well. I was trying not to exert myself and also to do something with a goal in mind, an that is Gold Moves. So I did edge presses, 3 turns, double 3 turns and brackets. I also filled in the time with some chasses, cross rolls, stroking, and some talking with my skating friends... I was quite tired after skating, I stretched a little when I got home and I was sore on Tuesday.

Wednesday: The alignment of the left blade felt better than the right one! Finally! I plan the next time to move the right blade a touch, maybe it moved a bit, maybe my boots got tighter and the balance is different, or maybe through comparison with the left one, I feel it can be better.

Skating went well. I approached the session like I would work for the Gold Moves. I warmed up the edges, the single 3 turns, the double 3 turns, then I put them on the pattern with the 3s completed but loss of flow, I warmed up the brackets, then I put them on the pattern, I had some hesitations and some tough downs but the foundation is there. Back circle eight went well. The crossovers I don't know how to put on the pattern, but I did work on crossovers. So that's that! I did some spins, work a little on twizzles (those are my biggest skating desire). Then I did some dance warm ups and a shy Tenfox. Oh and I took a fall, that means I'm trying things, or I was tired, or both... I think both... Thursday I was sore, and the left side (the one I fell on) was slightly hurting. It is nothing worrisome, but I should continue the good practice of wearing the gel hip pad on my left hip that was injured few years ago and still hurts occasionally.

Friday: it was raining, I was a little tired and if you remember, last Monday for these exact reasons I didn't go skating. Now, I went... On ice I was very tired, from both the weather and the muscle being tired from the previous days. It made me feel off balance. Also distracting were 2 former males national competitors throwing around doubles and triples. Their skating with speed, their landing of double and triple jumpsand occasional falls were noisy and while they weren't skating really close to the rest of us, it felt unnerving. One of them was there both Monday and Wednesday. Monday there were other former elite skaters but older so a little slower but skating together as they knew each other and so, taking a lot of space on ice. This noon ice is for  adult figure skater but it is public ice meant to be safe for the adult skaters. It is not meant for training seriously. I know in the past the figure skater director intervened in situations like this and redirected the strong skaters to practice ice sessions. I hope she will do it again.

Skating didn't go as well as Wednesday or Monday for all above reasons. The boots felt better? though I'm not really sure. Oh well... 

The victory this week is that I skated 3 times!

Almost vegan

I find myself lately thinking a lot about food. I think it is related with the skating, as I need to eat more when I work out. I eat more often and also differently, as I need more protein, and interestingly I crave sweets (that I usually don't crave), so comfort food. Protein is complicated for me, as I am almost vegan, I think 90% of my food intake is plant base, I don't eat meat at all, but I do occasionally eat fish, cheese and I eat eggs from sources that I know are humane. And comfort food... I have to find something healthy.

I also hope to lose some weight. I gained 15 pounds during covid and I've lost just 5. This would help skating and my clothing to fit better.

So, I'm thinking to start a new category of posts covering food, I actually did have a post with soups during covid, see it here...

Anyway, the purpose of this posts would be firstly to keep track of the recipes, because many of them are created on the spur of the moment and I forget them. Also, vegetable meals take quite a lot of time to prepare, there are days when they are simpler, not as satisfying, I would like to use these posts also as a thinking ahead moments to help me keep the food interesting.

The second week of May

The plan was to skate 3 times per week... My home rink has adults only sessions Monday, Wednesday, Friday at noon. I like those as they feel safe, they are not very crowded, the skaters are familiar and I like how these sessions are spread evenly during the week.

Monday... no skating. The "reason" was that it was raining... (and I felt a little tired). I'm telling you, I have to get my skating groove back!

Wednesday... skating!!! But oh boy, it wasn't pleasant. The plan was to skate easy so I will find my balance and not get sore muscles, and that supported my priority of working on the blade alignment, as I have to get off ice to adjust the blade. 

At this point the right boot feels aligned, I can do all edges and turns without feeling pulled. My pronation makes makes the FO edge difficult to sustained but I don't feel it can be helped from the blade more than it is now. On the left boot I still feel a positive difference while playing with the blade, so it is just a matter of striking the right balance.

Based of what I felt last on ice, that my heel was collapsing towards inside, and I had no more space to move the blade, I added shims under the heel. On ice I did swizzles, slalom, edge presses and the heel felt better, the front felt that collapsed towards inside. I moved the blade toward inside, but now the back inside edge was pulling me towards outside. So I moved the blade back a little towards outside and added shims to the front too. It felt better I did more edge presses 3 turns, brackets, crossovers, chasses, some spins. I felt I needed the front a little back again towards inside. I was tempted to keep skating and adjust after I get off ice but as I was skating "easy" anyway, I took the time to make this 3rd or was it 4th adjustment. These adjustments take at least 5 minutes, I would think towards 10 minutes... so after this last adjustment the skating session was close to ending so I didn't get to do much skating, but the first "feel" was positive.  

Friday... skating. I had a work meeting that I suspected  it will run long, but I told myself that I will go skating even for just half an hour. And it was only half hour... It didn't feel productive from skating or adjusting the blade point of view, but it is a victory in commitment.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I haven't posted an update from the beginning of March. The plan was to take a balanced approach to skating in both scheduling, goals/ expectations and even the actual skating effort. Also, I've still haven't finalized the blade adjustment, in the sense that it felt better, but I have hoped it could get even better, so the blades mount had only on temporarily screws so I would able to move the blade/add shims myself.  The first week of March I couldn't skate at all (work related), and the I've slowly deflated and skated on and off, mostly off.

The month of April... no skating! (including this first week of May). The first 2 weeks of April I had crazy work projects, then, as I was very tired, I've got a little cold. Plus one of my cats went through teeth surgery. What I find interesting is that, while I would have been able to skate at least once a week, I've chosen not to... Yes, I was tired and a little sick, but I also reasoned that skating just once a week my muscles are going to hurt. And looking back, I was also unmotivated because I didn't have a clear skating plan and the fact that I'm still not comfortable with the blade alignment.

The plan for the month of May?

The priority is to finish with the blade alignment. If you remember I had a bootfitter on the ice with me for an hour and he basically agreed with everything I was feeling. Then he moved the left blade forward, over the edge of the tip of the boot's sole, as I wasn't feeling stable on the rocker. Now I just have to figure out the balance between inside/outside edge, as I did on the right boot. I pronate (on both right and left sides), so it's not gonna be perfect. My "technique" is to move the blade towards inside, this helping to get on the outside edge, until the inside edge starts to suffer. Of course both the front of the blade and the heel have to be figured out, and they also have to "feel"straight. Then, if I still cannot go hold the outside edge, I add shims.  It is annoying because on ice, instead of skating, I have to run specific exercises that show the balance, then go out of the ice, take the boot off and adjust... then back on ice... 

The alignment on the right boot feels as good as it's gonna get. On the left I was feeling that my heel needs to be a little more "in", I was collapsing towards inside. It wasn't terrible, so I thought let's mostly skate, build muscles and have the alignment in the back of my mind. But it seems that it is holding me back mentally as I perceive it that I "cannot" skate, I'm just building muscles/ exercising. 

The plan is to hopefully progress with the blade alignment, and to skate as I used to skate, for progress, at least 3 times per week, to start with, though, realistically I cannot expect much progress even skating 3 times per week. But I don't think the "balanced" approach to skating worked for me. I am motivated if I have goals and work towards certain skating skills or tests. 

My last goals (3 years ago, before covid and the boots troubles) were Adult Gold Moves and Standard Tenfox. I think I should start working on this and maybe have a lesson to map out the Gold Moves.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Let's review last month. 

I was finally able to work on the blades alignment. It feels waaaay better! In the past I always felt my right foot more unstable, but on these new boots, the left foot balance was terrible, it ended up I was right to request the blade to be moved forward, you can read all about the alignment here. Now the left foot feels good, the right just OK. I still want to try some things so I'm still on temporary mount  (screws) for now.

And how did the actual skating go last month? Not bad... I was able to skate consistently twice a week. At the beginning of the month I was focused more on feeling the blade and building muscles, the last 2 weeks I decided to concentrate on reviewing skating skills. 

I made a list with what I though to be doable exercises. It included my warm up, edges and the moves in the field up to what I tested, so nothing too challenging. I am trying to hold back for three reasons. Firstly, I am still not 100% aligned and safe on these boots, secondly I am eager, after 2 years of skating cautiously on my old boots, to go fast and that goes against the first point, so against safety. The third point is, I am still building muscles and stamina, I do feel out of breath when I skate faster.  

I'll keep the same plan for this month. I was reviewing my blog and I've realized it took me exactly 2 years to find new boots. My skating feels like a comeback. I have to accept it is challenging, also my available time for skating is not the same as before. In the past my goal was training for progress, now I am committed to approach skating in a more balanced way. I feel I have to go methodically and slowish for a while, to build my balance, muscle, stamina. And I think it is a sensible, safe, challenging enough and rewarding enough plan, all things considering.

Adding to the balanced approach is the fact that I won't skate at all the fist week of March. I've decided I wanted to watch Shyncro Nationals, and I have to watch live as there is no replay and it runs at the same time as my own skating slot would be.

Mid month update

After my blade was re positioned last week, I was able, this week, to skate twice. I needed to fined tuned what the bootfiter adjusted. He looked mostly at forward outside edges because those are the biggest issue because of my pronation, so I checked all the other edges doing all forward/ backward the turns in my repertoire. The alignment is not perfect but I think and hope it may be good enough. I won't put in yet the permanent screws, but  I hope I can block myself to think about the blades and just skate.

The last months I was at least half the time focused on the blades, with a little intention towards exercising the muscles and a little social skating.

I want now to dust off my skating technique. I want to put together a list of skating exercises starting with the easier ones and built on that.

Fingers crossed!

Adjusting the blade

So I finally bit the bullet and hired a bootfiter to adjust the blade. He is not located at a rink, but comes to the rink for an hour for a fee of $90.

On my old, collapsed boots, after I rebuilt them I adjusted the blade myself. I tried on these new boots, only I felt the temporary screws that allow adjustments had to be moved. 

Here comes an extremely long story...  My right foot is size 5, the left is 5.5. I've chosen to buy boots size 5 because I figured trough trying different boots, plus the custom that felt too big, that Riedell changed the toe box on the current models and I've felt that added a 1/4 size. Also the size 5.5 I tried felt too large in volume. This size 5 fells just a tiny long for my right foot, and a tiny small for my left foot, and that was stretched out. The volume feels a little bit larger at the ankle than my old boots. I have hypermobile ligaments, that means I need a small volume boots, otherwise I don't feel supported. To add to the difficulty, I pronate, on both feet, more on my right foot.

The blade on both my boots felt unsupported under the inside of the heels, the left foot more. The left foot felt also too forward on the blade and also crooked between the front of the blade and back.

I've met the bootfitter, I asked if I should tell him what I think or to let him come to it himself. He said to tell him, and then he will observe himself. We started with the right foot, and he asked me to glide forward on it while balancing on the sweet spot on the blade that is at the back side of the foot's arch. I was slowly sliding towards left, so falling towards inside. He played with the placement of the boot several times. He also added a wedge inside the boots, under my insole, and outside the boots, between the blade and the boot. I was doing some exercises after all these adjustments, going straight forward, sustained long outside edge (like in dance), the outside forward entry in bracket and power pulls. We came to exactly what I was feeling and that was to move the back of the blade towards inside, by moving the screws. He drilled a hole a little more from the previous hole, so the screw can catch and not collapse into the old hole. We came into something that held the elusive outside edge... I hope everything else is balanced too, we were running out of time I haven't got the chance to try turns, but power pulls weren't perfectly stable.

As almost an hour had passed, he said let's look at the left. And through same "judgment"  he agreed that I needed the heel of the blade moved in by moving the screw, only there was not enough space. It could be mounted more towards the edge using the permanent screws... only we weren't sure exactly how much the blade towards inside. That is what the temporary screws are for, adjusting. To complicate the matter, the sole of this left boot is fabricated slightly smaller than the right, plus that boot was stretched forward, I felt I was forward on the blade... so we came to the "crazy" solution, that he never tried before, to mount the blade sticking out on the front of the boot. That will give space in the back for the blade to be moved "in" and also will put me more "back" on the blade, as I was feeling off balance, too forward.  In order to do this, he needed to take the boots to his shop, plug in the holes, let them dry and the mount the blade catching half of this plugged old hole, half on untouched sole.

I picked the boots up the next day and went skating. I again didn't have time to go through every edge and turn, but... Big relief that the left blade seems to be in the right spot, I may still have to play with adjustment but there is true hope. The right boot was hurting a little, I think because there are so many insoles in, it lifted my foot. It also felt crocked?

Well, I woke up next night with intense foot, ankle and knee pain. I knew immediately that the culprit must be the wedge inside the boot... and yes it was. This was not a simple wedge,  it continued with an arch that it seems interfered with my regular insoles arch. The next day I hurt all day, thankfully the second day it calmed down. 

So at this point, hopefully I have the screws in the right spot so I can continue with the blade adjustment.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Last month, as I reported already, I didn't skate the first week. The following 2 weeks I was able to skate I think 3 times per week. 

Last week there was a lot of skating to watch, the national championship and european championship on tv/ peacock, and the the Midwestern Synchro Sectionals on usfsa fun zone. I chose to watch live instead of skate, because... there is no replay.

Going back to my skating, I am in my new boots for few months now. While I wasn't able to skate regularly I skated enough to considered them broken in. But during the times when I was able to skate 3 times per week, including these last weeks, I've realized I can still work on tightening them more, so mold them a little more. That will give me a more secure fit. And I need the best fit I can get out of them, before adjusting the blade. I am pretty sure that the left  blade, and maybe the right too, need to be moved towards inside more that the temporary screws allow, so I'm happy I make progress into figuring that out.

While on ice, I'm feeling occasionally of balance (when I goo too deep into edges). That makes me be cautious.  I'm able to do my regular warm up exercises, dance exercises and even run the last moves I tested. I don't feel it is worth it to work on the next level dance and moves elements. I also don't jump since I'm in temporary mounted blades. I also can barely spin forward since the blades is not align I feel I'm "falling in", cannot hold the edge. The back spin feels better, though it was never a strong spin for me.

What I can do is work on old dances, since I've forgotten the steps on some that I tested already, and continue learning steps from new ones. Also, skating the warm up and the comfortable moves helps as exercise, improves my muscles and stamina. Hopefully I can get the blade aligned and feel comfortable to do more soon.

My boots: Riedell Bronze Star

Here is the story of the boots. I used to wear Riedell, some intermediate level boots, size 5.5. They worked and served me well for 15 years. A small problem was that my right foot is 1/2 size smaller so that boot had an extra insole to fill in the extra volume. The other problem with my feet is that I'm in general hypermobile, so flexible. That makes my feet squeeze in for example narrow shoes and for the skiing boots the term "small volume" was used. I also pronate, so my feet go "in", I am wearing arch support that helps to some degree but I still need a custom blade alignment and wedges to adjust the angle of the blade. All of these issues have no impact to my day to day shoes and life. But for skating I need something snug, because I press and move the feet in the boots.

When I needed new boots, is it 2 years now?, I found out that Riedell, that was known to have a narrow last (this is like a production mold) changed the design of the toe box for all their models, by making them higher. The idea was probably to allow that extra volume so the toe could be stretched to accommodate wider toes. I've came to the conclusion that Riedell also changed the back of the foot, the heel cup, design, it enlarged and elongated it. I've tried 3 pairs of boots, some I was able to return, some not, and I've also had and unsuccessful custom boot made. They all felt too large, it was too much volume for me, and I didn't feel secure in the boots. I've tried other brands, of course, but they felt even bigger.

In a desperate attempt to keep skating I ordered on ebay some Riedell boots half a size smaller that my previous ones, so size 5. This fits my right foot with in fact a little extra space, and it is slightly short in lenght on  my left foot. I bought the first model from the higher level, stiffer boots line. That is because I've realized the lacing starts lower on these higher level boots so I could tighten more from that high toe box. I also added a felt insole in both boots that helps to fill in the space, and I'm feeling at like 80% from my old boots fit. I kept hoping that after wearing them more, they will close more on my toes and ankle, but up to now I still feel them slightly larger than my old boots. There is nothing more I can do to help these boots in volume. 

At this point I need help in aligning my blade, because I've tried myself to align in the space the temporary screws allowed me to play with. I have the feeling I need new holes, only I've better be sure, because you cannot keep putting holes into the sole of the boots. And I'm not sure... I'm wondering if the lack of security I feel is not actually from the extra volume at the ankle. At this point I think I have no other choice than to try...

Only there is one more thing... I needed to stretch forward the left boot, to accommodate the longer foot. And now a feel that the blade would need to be moved forward, only my boot fitter said it is not possible.

I looked back at older posts, I was writing in August that I needed to align my blades. The problem is I'm not sure how.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

The first 3 weeks of December I was able to skate consistently 2, 3 times per week. Then... break for 2 weeks. One of the reason was that the ice schedule is different during kids vacations, but the real reason is that one of my cats, Toto, only 3 years old, got severely sick. What it seamed to be a severe flu/cold it turned into FIP, feline peritonitis, affecting all body, including the brain. We scrambled to get the diagnostic during holidays, than we were forced to prepare to say goodby because there is no treatment...  Well except something experimental, 84 daily, very painful, and very expensive shots. We scrambled then to research if it is safe, got a real chance of success, can we afford it... And at this point I'm happy to report Toto is under treatment and improving slightly each day.

Going back to my skating, it is still about adjusting the blade alignment. Read here the situation with my current boots. I think I'll have to thread gently and gather opinions from different sources and different bootfitters.

Aside from that, I am actually able to skate more freely than the last 2 years, so there is some joy in skating. There is also value in exercising. The only thing missing is the possibility to work towards progress, I'm just not feeling secure enough in the boots/ blade situation.

The plan is to keep doing what I'm doing.