This past Tuesday night, I went to the Moolight Rollerway again with Ryan for their Tues night adult class. This time we went to the other half of the rink which was teaching backwards skating.
It was the first time going since the class 3 weeks previous. That night was the first time going to the class but the 2nd time on skates again. And my knee still was very sore from a bad fall onto it 3 days earlier. When I say bad fall, I mean bad. Going to the first class pushed it too hard and it felt even worse the next day so I’ve waited this time til it was healed or at least no pain unless I press on the sore spots. It did make for some interesting bruise patterns all over my leg including one down by my ankle though it was my knee that I landed on.
I digress.
Despite the knee problems, I’d found that I was starting to remember more and more of the moves, or rather that my body remembered the motions even if the muscles weren’t up to it yet. One of my old favorite tricks was to come to a stop in a twirl. And I did it a couple times that night before realizing that I was doing something that novice skaters can’t do. So despite the fact that I was woefully out of shape and practice, my confidence was up and I was excited to be getting my old skating skills back.
However, this past Tuesday was a nightmare. Everything was incredibly difficult and I kept losing momentum way before everyone else. I couldn’t understand why it was until one of the instructors commented to me that he was sorry but they weren’t allowed to adjust the rental skates for us. But if I had my own skates, he could adjust them and solve my problems.
D’oh!
It turns out that the pair of rental skates I had that night were extremely tight which is why I got foot & calf cramps almost immediately while trying to do the skating motions being taught. I basically had cement blocks with wheels strapped to my feet. The trucks had almost no give at all.
After the lesson, Ryan prodded me to go exchange the skates for a better pair but they were all pretty crappy. The one pair that had a decent flex to the truck was also missing a nut so the shoe was starting to come off the skate. I pointed it out to the skate attendant who was doing his best to not show how annoyed and put out he was by us though there was no one else waiting. I finally picked a pair and when I got out on the rink… oh man it felt like I was skating on a badly paved road. Plus there was a mysterious bump under my right big toe that was quick starting a blister. I think I held out for about 15 minutes and then finally called it quits and got off. My legs were worn out from the hour of being on those previous skates.
It was very demoralizing but one of our classmates, Roxy, chatted us up. Turns out that she’d just gotten her own skates and was loving the difference. She’d also suffered from the rental skates and had even taken a picture of the best ones she’d been able to find so that she could use it to match and find the same pair again next time.
And I seem to remember how smooth and easy it was when I had my own skates long ago.
I do enjoy it and Ryan seems to be getting a kick out of it too. He’s having trouble learning some of the moves but is being very game about it and keeps trying. So perhaps worth shelling out the bucks for a pair.
BTW I was shocked to find out from Dad that when I was doing those private lessons and becoming a competitive skater, that I did it only for a summer. It felt like longer. I remember very well why I stopped. I’d gotten to the point where I had to practice moves that would involve falling down a lot til I mastered the balance.