Charlie Brown On Skates

It’s been roughly a month since I’ve been skating in my new Hyper Sincro custom speed skates. While the results so far are mostly promising, I do have a ways to go to feel completely comfortable in them.

In hindsight, I probably should have gotten into a speed skate much sooner than I did. I was intimidated by the fact that speed skates don’t have the ankle support of a transition skate, but I should not have been. My advice to anyone who comes into this sport who is an above average skater is to go ahead with the speed skates as soon as possible. If you’re a good skater, you can handle the lower boots.

Having said that - my ankles are sore right now, particularly my left ankle. I have a history of ankle problems however, having torn ligaments in both ankles on multiple occasions playing both hockey and football. It’s been some time since the last accident, probably in the mid to late 90’s. But the effects remain.

Mainly right now my left ankle is sore, and it’s more than just my history of ankle issues. My technique has been all over the place and I am constantly trying to learn and adjust to get better. Joey Mantia’s golden rule #3 is ankle support: “I always try to focus on keeping my ankles nice and firm when I skate. If your ankles aren’t firm, and give as you push, you lose power.”

That is clearly a problem with my left ankle. In fact when I crossover, my left ankle supinates under my body. I’m not quite sure how to solve this yet, other than trying my best to be firm on my skates and keep up my off-skate exercises and balance board activities.

I think in the end, it just takes some time to build that extra ankle strength that is needed, and in my case, it will take a bit longer. This is why I wish I would have done it sooner.

As far as the skates breaking in, it’s going pretty well. I have a problem with the forefoot getting numb, so Cale has taken the skates to put them in the stretcher. This should help open it up a bit and hopefully solve that problem. In light of that, I’ll most likely cut off the velcro straps at the front of the skate, like a lot of others have done. They aren’t really necessary. In fact, I don’t even have the first 3 eyelets laced at this point.

Hopefully that will allow me to crank down a little more on the upper boot area for a snugger fit without numbness.

On the blister front, things have calmed down fairly well, right now I am only fighting one. The ezee-fits help a lot, but are too thick, so I’ve ordered a pair of the ultra-thin size.

Hopefully with these changes, in the next month I will become more comfortable and be able to focus on technique and improve my skating. It’s almost February, I want to be solid in my skates when the outdoor season arrives.