Ice Skating 145: New Skates!

Before I blog about the lesson, I wanted to record about Lil Shauna's 1st solo outing to the ice skating rink with 2 of her classmates, who are also her recess kakis. She had been telling me about the outing but I was worried that her friends would play her out. I had imagined her standing gong gong outside Mac, waiting hours for her friends. It was only the day before when I heard her calling her friends to make meet up arrangement that I felt more sure.

The plan was for Lil Shauna to take the MRT alone to Jcube and redeem the season pass that we had pre-purchased. Ended up, Ah yee sent her to Jcube as she was heading out too. Lil Shauna did meet her friends alright but ended up paying for the entry bcos she didnt know how to redeem the season pass. Zzzzz. Luckily I gave her enough pocket money for the outing. Lil Shauna said that the date turned out well. She had Mac lunch with her friends and Popo picked her up for phonics when she was done. Yeah! Another first!

Lesson this week was very much jumping. Her jumps are very much back on track since her knee injury. After like forever (really forever), Coach Raymond is finally teaching her new stuff! This is a waltz jump and she has to land with a back spin. This is the prelude to an axle jump! An axle jump is one with 1.5 revolution in the air. She still has a long way to go bcos she hasnt even landed an axle on land much less doing so on ice.

Her new skates have finally arrived! Freaking $520. I was contemplating changing to Edea that has softer boots and easier to break in but kept to Jackson bcos the Edea boots and blades that had to come separately for her level cost over $1k. The more complicated the jumps, the harder the boots need to be for protection and Edea's sofeness became a disadvantage. I arent money printing machine. Coach Raymond advised that she could stick to Jackson Freestyle, which is what she is currently using and I jumped at the lower price.

We were told that this was the improved version of the Freestyle. We got a size bigger for Lil Shauna, knowing that her feet would grew some more. I could even wear her new pair! I know who will inherit this pair when she outgrows.

Unveiling the new skates.

Got shiny, shiny at the back of the skates wor!

Lil Shauna got to try the new skates after class. She wasnt the most enthusiastic bcos the breaking in period is no fun. It was months of pain and blisters and tons of trial and error to counter the pain for her current pair bcos the boots were so hard.

As it was a size too big, we had to add on another insole and lace it really tightly. Surprisingly, there wasnt much pain after 15 mins. Must the the new boots' improvements. Her only feedback was that there was too much space in the skates. Haha.

We went back to the ice on Sunday with her new skates and we brought along the old skates for standby but she didnt need her old skates at all. The new skates were comfortable enough with the extra gel pads that we stuck on her feet to counter the possible abrasions.

She was on the ice for a good hour in her new skates. Other than her request to lace them even tighter, she didnt at all complain of pain. Bingo. After the hour, she was able to do her spins and some of the jumps decently. Yay!

The new boots felt softer than the current pair, when this pair had been worn for over a year. The better cushioning is a plus. Comparing the new boots (top) vs the current.

Aesthetically, I actually like the current one better.

I like the gold hooks, writings and sole that looks like some kind of wood. The new pair is in silver.

And the sole looks like plastic.

Nevertheless, what is important is that the new pair serves her well. We have to lace it even tighter the next round bcos she said that her ankle hurts from the extra space.

Mummy Lim