Beefy gams
My aforementioned bulked-up thighs have done it again. Not only is pants shopping an exercise in futility, but now I've got kneepad issues too.
I was super-psyched to see a box from Sin City Skates sitting on my front step when I got home from work. It was my long-awaited Fat Boys--just in time for tomorrow's practice! I tore open the box, dropped trou in the middle of my kitchen and strapped those babies on. Or tried to anyway.
I had ordered the pads in medium. I'd tried on oboe_sama's mediums and they seemed to fit okay. asavas wears mediums too and since she and I have somewhat similar body types, and with Sin City's advice that you should go for a snug fit for the best protection, I figured the mediums would work fine. Oh no. I could barely close the butterfly flaps around the back of my legs. I tried tightening the straps around my legs, but they were so tight when in their full upright and locked position that I was starting to lose circulation in my legs. What's more, I couldn't walk. My knees simply wouldn't bend beyond the derby crouch the Fat Boys sort of force your legs into automatically.
So I tried loosening up everything. Only when I'd reached a point that the Velco pieces were barely sticking to one another was there enough give for me to bend my knees and walk properly. It didn't feel safe or secure at all. But I thought maybe I just had to get used to them, so I wandered around my house for 20 minutes while I made dinner--and yes, I was a vision of loveliness, wearing only a t-shirt, underwear and kneepads (this would be why it's often advantageous to live alone). Occasionally I'd drop into a double-knee fall just to see how it felt. Whenever I did a fall not only did it feel like the pads were going to pop right off my legs, but I wouldn't land squarely on the protective cap, so I'd end up pitching forward and falling on my face. I do that well enough on my own--I didn't need kneepads helping me do it.
So I pulled the pads off, eyed them ruefully, ran a lint brush over them to get the cat hair and carpet fuzz off them, and then packed them back up in their box. No reason to be in denial about it--my hulking stems require pads in large.
{sigh} So no new pads yet. I'll have to stick with the old Target cap-crackers for practice tomorrow--and probably for tryouts next week too unless Sin City can work miracles and get the exchange turned around in record time. Sucks too, because minus the sausage-casing-like fit, the pads did feel really good. I'm a fan of this protective donut of padding on the inside. And they feel much more solid than the plastic placeholders I'm wearing now.
At least there's practice tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it because we'll be working on blocking. I haven't done any proper blocking since the last time I tried out, so I'll be interested to see if the fact that I can skate better will improve my blocking skills. Hopefully I won't break myself or anyone else!
I was super-psyched to see a box from Sin City Skates sitting on my front step when I got home from work. It was my long-awaited Fat Boys--just in time for tomorrow's practice! I tore open the box, dropped trou in the middle of my kitchen and strapped those babies on. Or tried to anyway.
I had ordered the pads in medium. I'd tried on oboe_sama's mediums and they seemed to fit okay. asavas wears mediums too and since she and I have somewhat similar body types, and with Sin City's advice that you should go for a snug fit for the best protection, I figured the mediums would work fine. Oh no. I could barely close the butterfly flaps around the back of my legs. I tried tightening the straps around my legs, but they were so tight when in their full upright and locked position that I was starting to lose circulation in my legs. What's more, I couldn't walk. My knees simply wouldn't bend beyond the derby crouch the Fat Boys sort of force your legs into automatically.
So I tried loosening up everything. Only when I'd reached a point that the Velco pieces were barely sticking to one another was there enough give for me to bend my knees and walk properly. It didn't feel safe or secure at all. But I thought maybe I just had to get used to them, so I wandered around my house for 20 minutes while I made dinner--and yes, I was a vision of loveliness, wearing only a t-shirt, underwear and kneepads (this would be why it's often advantageous to live alone). Occasionally I'd drop into a double-knee fall just to see how it felt. Whenever I did a fall not only did it feel like the pads were going to pop right off my legs, but I wouldn't land squarely on the protective cap, so I'd end up pitching forward and falling on my face. I do that well enough on my own--I didn't need kneepads helping me do it.
So I pulled the pads off, eyed them ruefully, ran a lint brush over them to get the cat hair and carpet fuzz off them, and then packed them back up in their box. No reason to be in denial about it--my hulking stems require pads in large.
{sigh} So no new pads yet. I'll have to stick with the old Target cap-crackers for practice tomorrow--and probably for tryouts next week too unless Sin City can work miracles and get the exchange turned around in record time. Sucks too, because minus the sausage-casing-like fit, the pads did feel really good. I'm a fan of this protective donut of padding on the inside. And they feel much more solid than the plastic placeholders I'm wearing now.
At least there's practice tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it because we'll be working on blocking. I haven't done any proper blocking since the last time I tried out, so I'll be interested to see if the fact that I can skate better will improve my blocking skills. Hopefully I won't break myself or anyone else!