Breaking in Boots – Diary of the Past Week
I got my new boots last Monday, so I am still breaking in my
new boots. Edea claims that there is a rather short break-in period… about 6-8
hours. I can attest that the time to get used to these boots has been fairly
short compared to my old Jacksons.
The first 10 minutes in my new boots were very painful. My
arches were killing me, and everything just felt really loose and unstable. I
couldn’t do a simple three turn. Thankfully, I didn’t fall and hurt myself. I
told this to the skate fitter, and he adjusted the blades slightly so my natural
pronation wouldn’t cause my arches to hurt as much. After skating another 10
minutes, I still felt sharp pain in my right arches so he added some shims
underneath the blade. Then he sent me on my way.
Day 1 of my new skates was frustrating. I had a lesson, and
Coach B spent the entire time helping me learn how to balance on my new
equipment. We stood on one skate, then the other, and we did basic stroking
skills down the length of the rink. I was able to do 3-turns forwards and
backwards and was even able to do a scratch spin, back spin and sit spin. Let’s
be clear – my spins were nothing near the spins on my previous skating
equipment, but it was a start. My arches were very painful that day.
Day 2 was better. My arches still hurt after 5 minutes of
skating but it improved after a while. My edges felt more stable, and I even
managed to do some backwards crossovers. Spins felt more comfortable, but the
spin exits were extremely wobbly. I got the courage to try some jumps and
landed a waltz jump, loop and salchow. Then I got the crazy idea of trying a
mini axel. I wasn’t ready to go full speed yet but actually landed them.
Day 3 was better still, but my arches still hurt. Camel spin
was nowhere to be found, and it is clearly something I need to re-learn. The
spin rocker is different from my last pair of blades. I was still able to land
my axels.
Day 4 was filled with both excitement and frustration. I had
a choreography lesson, and my choreographer made a comment saying that I was “flying”
across the ice and covering it well. Another coach said the same thing and
noticed that I was skating much faster than before. That was the good news. The
bad news was that I was tripping over myself, but I knew that my balance issues
would improve in time. Arches still hurt.
What I found out through this process is that although Edeas
have a short break-in period, it isn’t without some pain. The other Edea
skaters at my rink also experienced extreme arch pain and numbness in their
feet. They said that the pain and numbness eventually goes away after a week or
so.
I’m still trying to figure out my new balance points, but I
already feel like I am making a lot of progress. The fact that I am skating
faster is a testament that properly fitted equipment makes a huge difference in
this sport. Hopefully my arches stop hurting by next week and that the 6-8 hour break-in period is true.
