With my graduate school applications, I sadly haven't been practicing every day. However, some interesting things are happening. First, I'm pretty sure I'me starting to make progress with breaking in my Teris. Unfortunately, I'm now getting rubbing.

If my boots are loose enough to allow me to move at all, my heels move up and down and I get blisters. If tighten them further, that is, I lace them up all the way, I can't bend my ankles anymore and my ankle bones feel like they're in a vice but my heels stay seated properly. Adding padding around my ankle bones helps, admittedly, but I still need to lace them in such a way that I can bend my ankles, otherwise landing jumps is just downright painful.

Oh, and I can now do my toe loops while moving, albeit not necessarily with good form.

Hey, i can relate to the "Break in " problems. I had a new pair that i was going to have to send back and have a new "impression" of my foot done. Of course, i am on the back end of a broken ankle, so i'm sure the skate company doesn't want a mold of my foot right now! Ha Ha

Something that might help: Put your hard blade guards on and just walk around the house in them, go up and down stairs (carefully) and it might speed up the break in process!

I know its frustrating because you are always trying to get the "right" tightness of the laces in the beginning.......hope it all goes well!

Already, trying to do this. My house doesn't have stairs, so that's out.

Did you get them heat molded?

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We've discussed this before, I have not had them heat-molded. My coach doesn't want me to, and I wouldn't even know where to go to get them heat molded even if he did.

I know we've discussed this before; that was a while ago and I didn't know if things had changed. My opinion hasn't...I personally think it's crazy to be bending over backwards to try and break the boots in without heat molding them, so I can't offer any further advice!

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Well, then you're left w/ good old fashioned time spent in them and grinning & bearing it. Breaking in boots is NO FUN, very painful, and you have stiff ones to break in & you're not doing the big elements that would help break them in faster. It's horrible, I can sympathize, but unfortunately that's the way it is.

Well, I apologize for not being clear. :/ I wasn't so much asking for advice as merely keeping you all up to date.

I'll approach the subject with Tim at our next lesson. Barring that, I still don't even know how heat molding works. Is there a website perhaps that explains the process? I'd like to know what I was getting into before I decided to do it, especially if I'm going against the wishes of my coach.

Which admittedly, it something I am loathe to do.

Heat molding isn't such a big deal. I just had it redone to fix some heel problems. Basically, they stick the skates into an oven for a few minutes, and then on your feet for about 30 mins. You lace them up tight, wearing the socks you normally do, and then sit there. That's it. As it cools, the leather stays in the shape of your foot. I don't even think most places would charge you for it, at least they didn't where I got them done. It's amazing, your foot fits so nicely in the boots afterwards.

Agree about the heat-molding -- it makes no sense not to.

Go to any ski shop place -- they have the convection ovens and know how to heat-mold if your local skate shop doesn't do it. It is not a permanent thing -- if you hate them after you heat-mold them (which I can't imagine), you can heat them again and they will return to the original state.

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Natalie

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The master skate fitter that sold me my Klingbeils told me to put the oven on very very low heat and put them in for about 10-15 minutes and then put them on. That was because he was about 4 hours away and i couldn't do a lot of "heat molding" with his official machine thingy. Needless to say, i never did put them in my oven because i was terrified i would burn them!

I can't even "not" burn my brown and serve rolls!

I did, however, put them in front of the heat vent at home and then wear them some. NOt as good as "heat molding", but i think it helped some!

It will all work out in time! BLessings!

Are Klingbeil's heat-moldable? I don't think they are...

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Natalie

http://www.ILoveTaB.com

I had my skated heat-molded when I bought them. Same procedure as others mentioned...they heated them up in the back room, then I put them on and wore them for about 15 minutes. I was instructed to do NO BENDING; I could "march" around as long as I wasn't bending my foot/ankle.

When I was skate shopping last spring, I tried on a pair of Edmonton Specials at one skate shop. The guy there heated them up (just a bit, not full out) and let me try them on, even though I hadn't committed to buying them yet. The difference in comfort was amazing. I didn't end up buying the boots, but it was no problem; he'll just mold them for the person who does.

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I'm headed to the ice in about four hours. Guess it can't hurt to ask.

Just read your first post again and wondered how you are lacing your boots...a lot of people recommend leaving the top hole as well as hook unlaced for the first while. If you're not already doing this, it may help.

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Your kitchen! You're supposed to put them in a fan oven at a very low heat for a few minutes, but a gas oven worked very nicely for my husband's.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I did a salchow today. And was unable to duplicate it.

Charles, the rink owner, said he could heat mold them for me if I wanted him to.

Since this is a further update, just going to add on rather than start a new thread. Seems silly to do otherwise.

I actually had a pretty decent skate today, and the boots felt, in general, much better. One of the main causes of this, I think was that I switched to thinner laces. It kept the boots tight and yet somehow the security didn't hurt as much. I also added some mole skin here and there to pressure points. I've pretty much got my toe loop nailed down entirely. I can also do three, sometimes four jumps in a row without screwing up the landing. Basically a toe-loop/waltz jump combination although which comes first is a matter of what I'm feeling like at that particular moment.

No salchow. No spins. Three-turns blew today, and I'm not sure why. I had the support, and I had the comfort. They just weren't there. The biggest issue I dealt with today was a blister on the inside side of my heel on my left foot. I covered it with a second skin and tossed bandaids over it. Unfortunately, all it did was cause the boot to rub RIGHT BELOW the covered portion. So now instead of one blister, I have two blisters side by side. Because of this, I finally broke down and took up the owner's offer of a free heat-molding. We can hope this will make a difference.

Wohoo! Let us know how it goes!

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

I will do that now, since I just got back from a freestyle session. That puts my hour total at 5 for today in case anyone keeps track of my extreme time on the ice besides myself and my coach.

I'm a believer. I don't know why Tim was so against it, but before the heat-molding I was constantly having to deal with that persistant set of blisters; some kind of heel problem, I guess. Earlier today, I took my skates on and off twice, and not only had the blisters hurt on the ice (despite the padding I have on them), they hurt even more when I put the skates on or removed them. After the heat molding, that is the freestyle session, not only did the blisters not hurt at all on the ice, but there was just a touch of a sting when removing the skaters. Nothing that was really annoying, less than a pinch, really. How suprising. Other than that, they just in general felt good, solid, and finally comfortable. Still a little pressure on the ankle bones, but not much. Not enough for me to really notice, certainly not enough to warrant punching.

Oh, and I've managed to get a consistent "half-salchow" I either can't get high enough or enough rotation, so I end up landing going foward and not on my RBO edge.

i've heard that this is actually a bad way to break in new boots because it will break them in to the way you walk not the way you skate. has anyone else ever heard something to the tune of this?

Laces can make a huge difference. Cotton ones choke my feet, but nylon ones rip my skin and don't feel tight enough. I use the cotton-nylon blend.

You also have to "break in" laces so they're soft enough. When I first got my skates, my fingers were sore and red every time I skated because of the laces. After about a week, they were fine.

Yup, and it's true. Your weight isn't distributed the same way when you walk as when you skate, so if you walk around in them more than necessary to get to and from the ice before breaking them in, you'll get creases in the wrong places, which will not only make skating uncomfortable, but will make it hard to subsequently ever get the books broken in right for skating. That's why people are discouraged from breaking skates down by walking or hanging out in them. Some people argue that as long as the blades have been mounted, it's okay, but the weight is still gettinf distributed differently when you walk than when you skate, whether blades are on or not, so as far as I know it makes no difference and it really should be avoided.

I don't know if this is going to work, video of me attempting a salchow:

I guess not. Link here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72spitUKfLM

Well...my salchows aren't hot either, but - what I noticed....

The 3 turn is very wild (mine are too!) and not checked. The jump itself is very rushed...the free leg isn't coming all the way through and you're only getting half a revolution. I'm sure the more experienced skaters on here can offer more tips and advice - they did for me and I'm now a lot more aware of the little things.

But I will say this - I think you're doing really well for someone just starting out. I've been working on my salchow for like, 7-8 months and mine still stinks heh. Keep practicing....I would really try to focus on getting the 3 turn under control...I'm working on this myself.