2nd week of June: thoughts on rest and balancing my skating

I knew I’ll have a meeting on Monday so I decided to skate on Sunday. I never skate in the weekend because usually there is no ice, if there is, it is very crowded. Plus I formed the rhythm of skating during the week and resting in the weekend.

The minute I decided to skate on Sunday, I felt unhappy.  As I tried to acknowledge my thoughts and feelings,  I have found many... What set my negativity off, is that while looking for ice for Sunday, I had to face the fact that the ice schedule is gonna change for the summer, I'm gonna have fewer options for ice time and the ice is gonna be crowded. Then, I've realized that I am actually tired. I am physically tired from skating ( 5 times last week) but I'm also more tired because  most of my free time goes into skating, I have less time to rest. I was then thinking again about goals, and, if I want to improve, I do need lessons and practice, so I do need to put in all these time, planning and work. I think, this will get better as I will find more clarity in how to balance the skating.

As for this particular Sunday, I found it difficult to decide what to work on, and it felt like I just didn't want to work on Sunday. So I decided to have a skating day for my own pleasure. That lifted the pressure and the unhappy feeling. At the rink, I started slowly and concentrate on feeling my breath, my posture and my extensions. I took the time to finish the exercises with a pose.  I ended up actual working at lots of things!

So, note to myself, do occasionally slow down and smell the roses! I guess, this is, in fact, part of a balanced approached to skating...

Monday, no skating because of a business meeting. But... I have to acknowledge that I was very tired the whole day, unusually so, and it made me wonder if I may be skating too much?

Tuesday I was very busy and I still felt tired. Then I’ve realized there is a full moon coming, I never rest well when there is a full moon. In this circumstance, I’ve decided to not go skating, be gentle towards my body and schedule.

Wednesday. Tuesday night there was this huge beautiful strawberry moon, so of course I woke up at 5 and couldn't fall back asleep. I was even more tired than the previous days. In the past I would have definitely not gone skating. But I have planned a lesson on Thursday, so I felt I had to go. This is one of the benefits of having planned lessons, they make you commit. I didn't stay that long but I was pretty happy on how the Tenfox worked. I was careful ti alternate the work on the Tenfox with slower exercise.

Thursday, I had a dance lesson with my new coach. I woke up rested but I worked so hard to catch up on work, I felt distracted before leaving for skating. Then, I had traffic, it took me 40 minutes instead of 20-30. Then, this session was a Freeskate one, a bit busier that I'm used to. Anyway, these are my excuses for not doing well. The 3s in Tenfox were skidding all the time, every single time! I left very, very disappointed.

Friday. I went skating, it was very crowded, I mostly worked on the Tenfox 3s that didn't go much better than Thursday.

This week was rough, I was excessively tired following the very busy previous week. I kept the skating schedule and the lesson, and that is a win in itself. I got disappointed in the Tenfox 3 turns but I have to remember that progress is not linear, I was tired, or I was too much into my head... Otherwise skating felt in fact good! I think this is the perfect reminder that I have to skate for my own enjoyment and continue in organizing the skating weeks and months so they feel balanced between work for progress and enjoyment.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I was skating hard and the Covid interrupted, well, everything. After Covid I had a hard time picking up skating again because of boots problems, I actually almost gave up.... Then,  I skated on and off. Whenever I picked up the skating again I had to go through a painful phase of building muscles. I also couldn't reach my coach because of heavy traffic during construction on expressway. I had no structure in my skating week or sessions, I've got demotivated, and got busy with other things.

But I figured out basically all of these! 

-The boots. I needed tighter, lower volume, boots and none of the four acclaimed boot fitters could not figure out a model to do that, including a custom boot, I bough in desperation on ebay, a half size too small and stretched the tip of one of the boots that felt too small. I have to keep stretching it weekly and it is not as tight as mi old boots, but it works! I still skate with temporary screws, I hope I can have the mounting finished this coming week.

-The building of the muscles. I am hyper mobile and so, my muscles get tired easier than regular people. I figured out after studying all kind of articles that I should not skate too hard when I'm building muscles. If I overwork the muscles, they get too damaged, I am in too much pain, and they need a long time to recover, like a full week, and they don't get the chance to build, and the following week I'm back to square one. Instead, I have to skate just to the point of feeling tired, then I can skate after 2 days, or even the next day and in couple of weeks I have some improvement!

- Coach. The expressway in my area is under construction and the traffic made it unrealistic for me to go to the rinks where my coach teaches, what it used to be a 35-40 minutes drive is now an hour and a half. I just found a coach at 20 minutes away, and my old coach was her coach back in the day, so there is some continuity there. I will still see my old coach whenever I can find the time, but now I can count on continuous instruction.

- Structure, motivation and goals. Having a coach gives some structure to my skating week and makes me skate harder as I have somebody to show my progress.

- Ice time. While floating around in between rinks, I ended up going more to a new rink that is very close to my house, just 10 minutes. It is the training rink (with two surfaces) of the big city hockey team. I tried it when it first opened, but they had unreliable schedule. Now, they figured it out better, and they have freestyle ice and public skate almost every day. 

My plan for the next months is, of course, to test the TenFox. 

BUT... my main goal is now: skating longevity, I want to build a balanced practice, a more uniform effort. When I used to skate hard in the past, before covid, I used to yo-yo in between feeling motivated to progress and test, and frustrated by any adverse condition, and even bored to stick to working on the same skills. So the bigger plan is to pay attention on the effort towards progress versus the enjoyment I get from skating day by day. 

 

2nd week of May

This week I have skated 3 times but... not much...

Monday I was excited and I skated 40 minutes. I know from experience that when I pick up skating after a long break I should start with 30 minutes. But Monday skating felt quite good.

Wednesday I skated 30 minutes, I had to leave and go to an appointment but my muscles felt tired anyhow, it was ok.

Friday was the worst of these 3 days. I don't know if my muscles were still tired... probably yes, but I was tired because I haven't sleep well (thunderstorms). I was sluggish and not very focused.

I'm hoping for a lesson next week, but I don't feel I got my "skating legs" back. 

*Note to my future self: DO NOT take so long breaks anymore, you will regret it! Instead of skating, you will have to use 2 weeks to build muscles and you will hurt! You will also not be able to plan lessons and think at goals.

*Note to check with my coach... Today I suddenly scraped the European Waltz dropped 3s (they were fine for a while now). I think it is because my muscles, or the body, were tired and as I stroke the outside edge I leaned forward (not engaging the core and hips to stay on the back of the blade), so when I raised and twisted I didn't have more space to go forward on the blade ti turn cleanly... 

*Another question, towards what direction should I point the toe when skating backwards. Because I push with a pigeon toe, I don't seam to be quick enough to get a turned out foot.

 

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Last month's skating was... hard. I guess the main reason is that my life is busy and it is hard to carve time for skating. It doesn't help that it is taking a long time to drive to the rink where I take the weekly lesson.  Also I am building muscles, and that hurts and it is tiring, so it makes my busy life harder. But... I can feel progress in skating! That is motivating to me, except my coach doesn't commit to a time for testing and that is demotivating, makes me unsure if I do, in fact progress.

I've taken a half hour lesson focused on ice dancing every week and I skate 3 and one week even 4 days to practice. I'm working mostly on the dance exercises and the Ten Fox. The exercises need patience to actually correct things. The dance got more precise, more flow, but it is slower than it should be. We haven't partnered yet with my coach, as I am still correcting things. 

When I get bored or impatient with the dance I go through the double 3turns and brackets and I can do them usually without stepping down though the flow is modest. Friday it was also a good day for spins, I finally gathered the courage to cross the free leg for the forward spin (I think the boot that was too short messed up my forward spin, the alignment on that side really, and just now I start to "feel" the alignment) and the back spin actually rotated (usually it stops after a couple of rotations because I don't balance correctly). The twizzles maybe start to improve, the CCW ones go consistently 2 revolutions, the CW ones I occasionally hit 2 revolutions but again, I "feel" the alignment is stronger.

Some acquired wisdom from these weeks

- listen to my body, when it is very tired, don't go skating let the body rest... maybe go back on the idea to be very careful in building the muscle progressively.

-  when I am a little tired work on less taxing stuff on muscles, with less knee  and less extension. And work on breathing and "finishing" the exercises, enjoy them

- whenever the ice is emptier, practice all kind of backward skating, the posture and rising on the left foot need work

- whenever the ice is very crowded, practice quicker skating, especially pushes

- don't sit and rest/ watch others, the muscles get cold and then I get more muscle pain

Plan for this month, keep going I guess and hope that the satisfaction is bigger than the effort.

The 3rd week of October

This week there is ice at the close by rink Monday, Tuesday and Thursday (the one negative is that it is at different time each day) and I could skate at my home rink Wednesday and Friday. So basically the whole week is covered! Analyzing the last 2 weeks it seems that I favor heavily the close by rink because I don't waste time driving, especially now that I added a weekly lesson that takes quite a lot of driving time. As the week started I've realized that while I didn't have to travel the work load was heavy.

Monday was Columbus day, I skated at the close by rink, my home rink was closed anyway. I expected to be crowded with kids and it was. To make it worse there was no ice monitor and the kids were playing catch and playing by throwing gloves on ice and using the beginners frames to play racing, and bump into each other. I skated around, used the center of the ice for some turns, edges an spins, and I left after half hour happy to be alive. At least I got my skating legs and balance back after the weekend. 

Tuesday it was almost empty, but there were 2 brothers around 5 years old, very good skaters, going fast in hockey style and not looking around. The noise that they were making amplified my fear of them hitting me. I got frustrated thinking I had a lesson the next day and I couldn't practice. I decided to cancel my lesson and just skate for fun. I ended up reviewing some the double 3s pattern and the bracket patterns

Wednesday, no lesson. I could have skated to the farther away rink, but I realized I felt tired, I didn't go.

Thursday I skated again at the close bye rink and the same brothers were there. There were other people skating and that worked for me, it seamed to slow down and quiet down a bit the boys. I've ran through everything I could remember, but I felt frustrated. 

Friday there was ice only at the further away rink and Fridays is usually more crowded and more traffic coming back. It was still the better skating day out of this week.

Few things I've noticed this week

- as soon as I want to "train", I  get frustrated (from various reasons). I will have to think about ways to control that, or to lower my expectations of training.

- I'm also thinking that my hope to skate Monday through Friday (in the middle, on Wednesday having just a half hour lesson so not too physically challenging) might not work because my body gets too tired and my schedule too busy. I'll give it few more weeks... if I don't catch up I'll have to choose 3 days to skate and the lesson, or a lesson only every second.

The 1st week of October

The possible skating schedule this week, was: Monday: home rink or hockey rink that is very close from my home, Wednesday: home rink, Thursday: hockey rink, Friday to Sunday either no ice, either I cannot skate because of work. So I think I can supplement with a lesson on Tuesday but that will get me to skating 4 days in a row. I hope I can manage that physically and also I hope I will not get myself too stressed because of the skating. The idea is for skating to help my life, not stress it.  

Monday I skated at the close by hockey rink. It was not very crowded this time, but with the desire to take a lesson on Tuesday I choosed to not push too much so I will not be tired the next day. I did mostly dance related drills and did the Ten Fox few times, unfortunately without music. I see some skaters connecting their music but being public skate and there were few hockey skaters on ice I though pattern dance may not be pleasant to them. I also see skaters with earbuds, I think I am gonna try those on a very low volume next time so I can still hear what is happening around me.

Tuesday, lesson! Read about it here.  It took me 35 minutes to get there and 2 hours back (because I made a stop just off expressway). Next time I'll drive straight home to see exactly how long it takes. Loosing so much time driving back takes a big chunk of my working day, I don't know if I can do it every week... This particular day was a pretty busy work day too, so maybe other days will be better, hopefully...

Wednesday I skated at my home rink and I've applied the corrections from the lesson. It felt satisfying to feel immediate improvement by applying just few corrections. I pushed quite hard, I was worried if I would be able to skate the next day.

Thursday, yeap I was too tired to even consider it would worth it to go skating.

Friday I had a work meeting Northside that was finishing at the edge of maybe me making it back to skate if the driving would be  expected1 hour. I dressed in layers, with leggings underneath and brought the skates with me. Only the drive back was... 2hours, yeap it was Friday, maybe on a different weekday would have been better. So, no skating...

No ice Saturday and Sunday.

I was pretty disappointed on Friday realizing I skated just 2 sessions and a half hour lesson. Like this, I am not gonna improve and the lessons would be a waste of driving time and money. I need at least one more skating day. 

Next 2 weeks though, I think I can count on skating Monday through Friday.

Mid month update

 I'm on a mission to build back my skating.

I'm doing mostly observing and planning, as the  rinks are still on the summer schedule, so not that much ice variable, plus last week I had a to work, so I couldn't skate consistently. And this, consistency, is what I need and try to plan.

I'm trying to plan:

- my life and work schedule so it will match the rinks schedule starting in mid August (skating will be at 11.30am  at the close rink an 12 Mo,W, Fr at my home rink, that means I should start getting ready at 11am, and expect to get back home to work at 1.30 to 2.30)

- some exercising. I'm prioritizing exercises for ankle strength, as I felt a little pain on ice, and leg exercises on my non skating days, to keep building the muscles. Of course some core an upper body work would totally not hurt, but I have to start somewhere...

- I'm watching skating videos an making lists on exercises I could o on ice. I want to have options for days when the rink is busy or I feel off. When I encountered days like that in the past an I haven't got a plan and exercise options, I felt I was inefficient, as I got frustrated and I've just pushed the old exercises, that weren't working in that context.

- I sharpened my blades

- The one disappointing thing I observed is that, as soon as I started to plan, I started to push, and I started to feel pressured. I've lost the fun a bit. I've also skated longer sessions an that gave me pain muscle. I have to learn this threshold of  when to stop skating (this is the plan), as without muscle pain I go back skating with more excitement an more control.

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...

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! 

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Desperate ebay buying

So... Being that I've spent now thousands and thousands and I still have no boots, what are few more hundreds? From two years ago, when I've realized that no new Riedell model boot fits like my old Redell 220 that is not produced anymore, AND Riedell changed he shape of the toe box and all their models feel too big, I keep looking on internet for an old 220, well hopefully new, or slightly worn. I found like a year ago something almost new that seamed that shape (they couldn't read the model), and it was same shape, just a lower level model, cut a little lower, so no good, because it didn't offer me enough support. They I found, again, almost new, a 220 but half size smaller, so I haven't bought it. Still I kept looking.

I found somebody local selling on ebay new Riedell with small factory defects, kind of half price. Plus he accepted returns, of course if the boot was not mounted. More than that, he accepted for me to pick up, so basically to try. I was hoping he might have older models, where the toe box was not changed yet. Well, he didn't, but what he had, was lots of advice... He turned out to be a retired bootfitter, having time on  Sunday afternoon to share his experience. He described me the manufacturing process and said that in his opinion custom has 50-50 chance to work out, as they are not as precise as one would expect. Well.. that is not good...

Anyway, as we looked to the boots we've realized the higher level ones had a deeper front cut, so the lacing starting more towards the front of the boot. That should help a little to tame that higher toe box. Up to this point I was keeping my interest into the high intermediate boots, as advised by all bootfitters, as my old boots had supposedly a flex of 50. So up to now I've tried the models Stride, 50 flex, Flair and Motion, both 70 flex.  Now, I've tried a Bronze star, flex 80. It felt stiff, but it also felt huge.. like lenght and volume. We've looked at my old boots, and he agreed that this new raised toe box is inserted into the lace differently, so it creates some extra lenght. Unfortunately he didn't have the next half size smaller at his place, he said he brought just the size I wanted 5.5. He also said that in 5 he only has a wide boot for this model.

Well, I found a size 5 Bronze Star from another seller and bought it. He accepts returns, so if they feel totally wrong, I'll send them back, I would loose the shipping back and forth.

So... My left foot is measured on Riedell chart at 5.5 and the right foot at 5. It is my estimation that, few years ago,  when Riedell made the toe box higher it made the size feel longer by quarter of a size. And yeap, this is how these Bronze star size 5 feel... The right one is just slightly longer, and the left one slightly shorter. It also becomes clear that when the toe box was raised, the boot volume was raised, they feel half a size larger overall. These new boots, Riedell 5, feel in volume as my old Ryedell 5.5.

I'm sooo sooo mad at Riedell for not knowing their own sizing and messing the custom boots so badly, and wasting a skating whole year of my life

But, I hope these Bronze Star stock boots will work. I don't expect them to be perfect. The toe box is still too high, that was my complain with the Riedell new boots fitting in the first place.

I have bootfitter appointment tomorrow.

Custom boots huge failure

So the custom boots were punched out in the back of the heel cup. They do not hurt, but... I have no heel cup anymore. They lift out of my foot at every single push like they would be flip flops... Also, while not hurting, the left boot bump is still there and it still leave a mark in my bone as I take the boots out.

I skated a second time, same... there is no hope for these boots. I called my bootfiter crying...

When I first visited him around a year and a half ago... yes it is this long ago, he said that either I order custom that will fit, or I accept a stock boot modified to fit to some extent...

I wanted custom, well, now I said let's get a stock boot and continue working on custom. But what stock boot?