New skates are almost always fun and exciting but scary at the same time. I was so nervous about skating on my new boots and blades that I couldn't get to sleep last night and woke up super early this morning to make sure I got to the session way ahead of time.

When I put them on they definitely felt different, but very solid under my feet. I got on the ice though and it was just so strange. I felt like I was learning to skate all over again. I did the standard "leave the top two hooks undone" thing and did a very slow lap around the rink. I just tried to find my balance point and not trip over my toe picks.

I got used to them pretty quick - my coach came over to check on me after her lesson and she said they look great on me. I told her they felt pretty good too, just strange adjusting to the boot and blade. I worked on some teeny tiny edges, did some knee bending exercises and other assorted break in moves. My skate buddy was there though and she was working on her loop entry so I figured I'd work on some 3 turns and they were so smooth and clean.

For laughs I figured I'd try a two foot spin and it felt GOOD. Centered, fast and most importantly I was able to get on my rocker and just let it do all the work for me. I don't know if the Grafs have a higher heel than the Jackson's, or maybe it was just the way the blades were mounted but it definitely felt like my weight was centered right over the ball of my foot. Getting REALLY crazy I did a one foot spin and the guy that mounted my blades came over and said "Feels good doesn't it? It LOOKS good". Sweet!

Towards the end of the session I was getting antsy to jump and do more advanced spins so I figured what the heck. No one says I have to just stroke around all day - I had plenty of knee bend and I was feeling comfy so I did a couple of sit spins, camels - I even did a sit spin-back sit! When I yelled out for my friend she was like "big deal, you do sit spins all the time!" When I told her that that was a BACK sit her jaw dropped and she was like "It looked just like your forward sit!". I couldn't do it again, but I do feel like backspins and back sits will be a lot easier because the rocker is RIGHT there every time I need it.

Then I did some jumps - baby jumps, but jumps nonetheless. I did some salchows, waltz jumps, toe loops - my landing edge feels SO good now that I actually have support on that side, and the blades were so quiet on the ice - I got a great sharpening! I closed out the session with my favorite combo at the moment, salchow-loop and I felt good knowing that I was doing so well after only two hours of skating.

Brand new Graf boots - 100 bucks
Barely used Phantom Blades - 100 bucks
Mounting/Sharpening - 30 bucks

I got SUCH a deal on these boots and I'm extremely pleased with them. I can't wait to go skating again - I might need to go before my next lesson just to break them in a little more. And I haven't even heat molded them yet! Wheeee!

Sorry so long, just wanted to share my excitement!

Awesome! I'm looking forward to my new skates- they will be my first real pair of skates.

Congratulations on the new hardware and a fine first-skate!

I just got measured for custom Jackson Elites last week and have a LONG wait for them to come in. I have been skating in Competitors but couldn't get a good fit for my duck feet (wide and flat!) so decided to go custom. Needless to say neither pair nor my MK Pro blades were as economical as your boots and blades - GOOD DEAL!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

The joy of skating in them - priceless!

Glad they worked out so well.

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Oh wow that sounds fab! Hope my new skates decide to be as forthcoming in easiness to be broken in.... I still have a fair wait though - about 5 more weeks I think before my skates get in.

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08