New Skate Update

After the 6 p.m. FS, Sonya and I went to the pro shop to pick out and get me fitted for new skates. We had to wait a while since Jim was working in the shop by himself tonight, but Sonya was very patient. Jim measured my feet, and carefully examined my old skates. After some consultation with Sonya, we decided the best match for where I'm at would be Riedell Silver Stars. Jim said that my old skates were definitely sized too wide and too big for me; my new skates will be size 9 Narrow -- if they are a little too narrow he can punch them out as needed, but this should take care of me having to torque those suckers down as I have in the past, not to mention the horrible heel sloshing I've had on the right foot.

Of course the pro shop doesn't keep men's boots in stock, and Jim says it's likely the factory won't have that size in stock either, in which case I might have to wait 4-5 weeks to get them in. He should be calling me Wed. or Thursday to let me know.

It's not clear if I will be able to keep my current blades (Coronation Comets, size 10 3/4) -- they may be too long for the boots. We'll find out when they come in.

I'm really psyched! I'm so grateful to Sonya for guiding me through this process, and I'm so excited that I will have skates that actually fit me and that I can feel really confident in. I'm sure it will help my skating enormously!