A big commitment...

Back in October when I first purchased my gear, I didn't want to get the bottom of the barrel gear but I didn't want to drop $500 either. I was only about 99% sure this was something I would want to do. At this point I am at 110%. Even if I reach the point where I can't bout I can see myself reffing and/or volunteering for a long time to come.

That being said, I spent half of Thursday's practice in near-tears because I was just so frustrated with my feet. Up until that point I had never felt like maybe I just wasn't cut out for this. I didn't like feeling that way. Not one bit.

My friend Lara, who will be joining with the next freshie class, was going to the Bruised Boutique to pick out her gear. I decided to meet her there and start down the path to getting new skates.

After measuring my feet it appears that I am wearings skates that are a size and a half too big for my feet! My right foot measured a size 6.5 and my left foot measured a sized 7.5. The problem is that I'm wearing size 8 skates now!!

Other weird foot things... the backs of my ankles don't have as much of a dip in them as "normal" heels do which is why the stock skates I was trying on felt like they were smooshing my Achilles tendon. My right arch is noticeably higher than my left arch.

This all led me to decide to go whole-hog and buy a set of custom made skates from Riedell. I'm going with the 265 (left image) boot which has a lot of built in support, and is a lot thinner than the boot on the Vixens (top image) that I currently use. The size change alone was amazing when I tried on the stock boots.

Because the size change is so dramatic I won't be able to use my PowerDyne Triton plates. If I'm going to do this I may as go all the way so I upgraded to PowerDyne DynaPro plates. Apparently they're slightly lighter than the Tritons and I'll be able to push my toe stops in a bit more.

This will all pinch my wallet but I have made the commitment to stick with this derby thing until I medically can't and when I medically can't I'll STILL be involved. I need to be prepared that I will still experience some level of pain in the new skates but I am hoping that it won't be nearly so bad. I should find out how much the damage will be and how long they'll take to arrive on Monday. Can't wait!