i'm in a bit of a pickle..
my skates are breaking down, but i have sectionals in 3 weeks, and then if i make it, eastern challenge... so I cant get new ones until after that.... anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to not make it get worse in the next two months?

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Do you stretch in your skates? If so, stop now. It puts extra stress on the leather and stretches them out. I never stretch in my boots. Always before I put them on or after they come off.

Kay

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I've heard of people taping their boots (wrapping tape around the ankle part) to make them last a little longer.

Replace your laces - sometimes they stretch out (esp. nylon)

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Is there any specialty shoe repair place or skate shop where you can have them rebuilt? All that means is that they open up the layers of leather on both sides of the ankle area and add another layer of new, stiff layer in-between the existing layers of leather. If you don't want them so stiff that you need to re-adjust to them, you can always just add a layer of leather to the outside of each boot, rather than both sides (I did just the outside of my landing boot, since the outside ankle area of that boot was breaking down fastest). Ask some of the coaches and skaters at your rink if they know of anyone who does this.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I agree that rebuilding is a good idea, but I, personally, wouldn't do it three weeks before sectionals. It takes several days to have it done, then you need to break them in -- you'll lose at least a week of training. When is Eastern Challenge? Maybe you can get it done right after sectionals. For now, I think replacing your laces is a good idea. I have heard Graf laces are especially sturdy and help keep your skates from loosening.

As Daisies pointed out, it could take a little while to "break in" the reinforced boots. Fortunately, I found that when I reinforced only the outside of the boot (not both sides), it was comfortable immediately and required no adjustment period whatsoever, but it immediately gave me the support I needed on jump landings. It all depends on how much you reinforce them and how sensitive you are to changes in your equipment. We have a place in town that can do them in one day (overnight), but it may take longer depending on where you are.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Yup. Duct tape works like a charm -- wrap it several times around each ankle, more or less given how much extra support you need. It comes off well and even comes in white. It got me through three extra months with really, painfully broken down skates.

And definitely DO NOT rebuild 3 weeks before a competition. In fact, it'd probably take almost that long just to do the rebuilding. Switching to new, all cotton laces does help though.

Not really an issue for me anymore, but how is the duct tape wrapped? over the laces?

Over the laces. You just tie up your skates normally and wrap duct tape around the ankle. You remove it and redo it everytime you skate.

Using the big cosmetic sponges (round disks about 3" diam and 3/8" thick) inside the boot at the ankle creases helps. Replacing the tongue helps too.

At what level are you skating? I would say that your boots don't have the time to completely die on you in that short amount of time unless you're doing a significant amount of double axels and/or triples. Just use some duct tape (clear) around the ankle area before you skate when you have jump-heavy practices, and on the competition days. It really shouldn't be a big deal.