I started skating as an adult, completely fell in love with it of course, and then life got in the way and between working ridiculous hours and distance to the nearest rink, I stopped skating about 7 years ago. Now I've got a chance to skate again, and on one hand I can't wait for tomorrow morning to arrive, while on the other I am absolutely terrified! My boots are ridiculously stiff, blades blunt, clothes don't fit, I'll be lucky if I remember how to do a crossover...aaargh, what was I thinking???
I'm sure some of you must have come back after a prolonged hiatus, so I'm hoping for some words of wisdom! Specifically - am I likely to need new boots?? The ones I have are so stiff they hurt my ankles when I've tried them on, and they are about 12 years old - skated on them 2-3 x weekly for 2 years, and in the following 3 years averaged maybe once a week, and then they've sat in a cupboard for 7 years. I bought them on the suggestion of my coach at the time, but I suspect I was overbooted as I've never felt completely comfortable in them - some movements and jump landings felt quite jerky, I've never been able to extend my ankle/foot in them or achieve deep edges and they've never really softened/broken down around the ankles at all. To be honest I've always assumed the problem is me as I've always been clumsy so falling off an edge or out of a landing seems par for the course.
For reference, my current pair are Risport Super Novas, and I used to skate in Super Crystallos. I would break down the Crystallos completely within 8-9m. Risport seem to have changed their boot names, but from what I remember Crystallos used to be a single jumps sort of boot (maybe early doubles?), then came Dimonts, and then Novas. I'm apparently "tough" on my boots
, hence my coach advising skipping a category.
Does anyone have experience with Novas, or any suggestions about boots? I suppose I'll see how they feel on the ice tomorrow and go from there!
Looking forward to reading the forums again, happy skating everyone!