Skate fit

[AspenonIce]

I'm taking Ice Skating as a fitness class at school so I decided to get my own pair of skates. I ended up with Ridell 110 Opals because my mom, who paid for them, didn't want to get anything more expensive in case I quit. I'm now 5 classes down and skate about 50 mins each class and my feet are still killing me. The outside edges of my feet and my arches are where the most pain is. Is this just foot muscle pain or bad fit pain?
The guy that helped us at the rink in my hometown didn't seem to be the most knowledgeable person and I really wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel when trying on the skates.

[skategeek]

Could just be lack of arch support.  You could try putting in some insoles with arches and see if it helps.  (I use the yellow Superfeet insoles, but there are others out there as well.)

[AspenonIce]

Could just be lack of arch support.  You could try putting in some insoles with arches and see if it helps.  (I use the yellow Superfeet insoles, but there are others out there as well.)

Thanks, I'll try that.

[Backtotheice]

Also you might try not tying so tightly over the arch of your foot. Sometimes arch pain is caused by this. You can try tying them snug but not super tight up until you get to just below the hooks, then tie tightly from the hole just below the hooks, all the way (but not so tight as you cut off circulation). Also experiment with different thicknesses of socks, or even barefoot. Try to use the thinnest sock you can or even nylons.
Hope you find something that helps!

[AgnesNitt]

I'm taking Ice Skating as a fitness class at school so I decided to get my own pair of skates. I ended up with Ridell 110 Opals because my mom, who paid for them, didn't want to get anything more expensive in case I quit. I'm now 5 classes down and skate about 50 mins each class and my feet are still killing me. The outside edges of my feet and my arches are where the most pain is. Is this just foot muscle pain or bad fit pain?
The guy that helped us at the rink in my hometown didn't seem to be the most knowledgeable person and I really wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel when trying on the skates.

I wish I knew the answer to this, but eventually it just went away as I skated more. You can lace the skates differently to see if that works.

[AspenonIce]

I've tried to tie my laces looser, but there wasn't much of a difference, and the new insoles (Superfeet carbons, the store didn't have the yellow ones) didn't make any difference either.
I've only ever worn trouser socks with these skates so the only other thing thinner would be pantyhose which won't keep my sweaty feet dry.
I think I'll just have to go to a pro shop near my school and ask them to measure me again for Riedell skates. But even then, I probably won't be able to get new skates, so I'll have to suck it up and skate anyway. 

Thanks for the suggestions, though.

@AgnesNitt
I'll try that for my next class on Monday.
Also, I love your blog. I've been going through and reading all of your posts. It's very informative and entertaining. As a mechanical engineer in training, your technical explanations are great.
Sorry for fangirling.

[AgnesNitt]

@AgnesNitt
I'll try that for my next class on Monday.
Also, I love your blog. I've been going through and reading all of your posts. It's very informative and entertaining. As a mechanical engineer in training, your technical explanations are great.
Sorry for fangirling.

Oh, I'm totally okay with fangirling. I can't have enough of it. 

[lutefisk]

For the pain involving the sides of your feet, you could have the boots punched out in those areas.  A good pro shop can do this.  You mark with a pencil on the boots where they hurt and the state technician will stretch the leather of the boots in those areas.  This process might take a couple of sessions to get thing more comfortable.  You can also experiment with gel cushions available at drug stores which have a loop to go over your big toe or  you pinky toe, depending on which side is causing pain.  Also, are these boots heat moldable?  If so, perhaps you need to have the skate shop heat them and then let them take the shape of your feet as they cool again.

[FigureSpins]

The achy arches/sides might mean your boots are too narrow.  If you're not already wearing thin socks, give that a try.  Otherwise, see if the pro shop can punch them out a bit for you.

The heat molding option is a good idea: you could wrap the tight spots on your foot with athletic tape (to make it a bit bigger) and then put on the skates so it pushes out those spots.

As a side note, fitters take measurements while you're standing up because everyone's feet spread a little when standing.  Always try on skates with a bit of walking and standing, to make sure they're wide enough.  (If you're buying skates for the first time, make sure the fitter measures the width as well as the length.  Don't guess - order the right size/width.

[AspenonIce]

I took them to a pro shop and they're going to punch out the sides and the arch.
I had no idea what I was looking for when I got them. I walked around in them for a while and they felt fine. They didn't hurt until I was actually skating.
I do remember that he asked me if I needed a regular width or wide and I said regular because I most of my street shoes are.

[Query]

I'll send you a link to my page on modifying boots to fit, by a board "private message"

[AspenonIce]

My boots got punched out on the outside and the arch, this has fixed the pain on the outside of my foot, but the inside of my foot still hurts. I paid more attention to pain while skating today and I realized that the pain is coming from my heel and a little from the side of my big toe, which then shifts to arch pain after a while. I'm going to take them to be punched out in the right place and hopefully, my pain will be gone. If it turns out that I don't need the extra space in the arch, will heat molding the vinyl work? I think the hockey stores around here should be able to help me with heat molding.

[lillian641]

Some people actually need less arch support, not more. I had to replace the insoles that came with my new riedell skates with felt insoles. So try every combination you can come up with. Also look at your feet for where any red marks are on your feet, it can help you find what areas need stretching.

Also make sure you are tapping your foot all of the way back into the heal of your boot, I thought my old boots were too small & that I needed a longer skate when I actually needed a wider shorter skate as my heel wasn't in the heel cup.

[Query]

What you probably want to do is to feel where the most pressure is on your foot (each foot), and relieve it. Punching out will help on the places on the side of the boot.

In principle, more support under the parts of the bottom where you have the least pressure would help - but that would reduce the space on the sides of the boot. So you might take out the old insole, cut yourself a new thin insole, with about the same shape, and add tape or adhesive foam (e.g., moleskin) where you have the least pressure.

I talked about these things more in the link I sent you.

It is only worth so much trouble to mess with junky boots. They probably won't last very long - which may be a good thing.

[Leif]

By the way, if Superfeet don't work out for you, you can probably get a refund. I took mine back after 6 weeks, and got a full refund. I had to provide a proof of purchase. This was in the UK, but I believe the refund applies to the US as well.

[AspenonIce]

I took the super feet back and got the riedell adjustable footbed kit. I'm currently trying out every combo I can to find out what works.
The width of the sides is finally ok now after 3 punch outs. (2 were free, yay!)
Now it's just the bottoms of my feet and my arches that hurt.

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