Try before you buy!

This is the packaging that my fancy arch support things came in.
Is that a frog or a gecko? And why is it in German?

So here's a story about why it's important to try out skates before throwing your money down. Also, maybe the moral of the story is that I'm dumb.

On the weekend I went to Cruz Skate Shop. Ze Boyfriend wanted new wheels and bushings and laces and whatever, and I've been looking at getting some skates while I'm in the US. After all, they're heaps cheaper here and I kind of wish I had bought skates when I first got to the US. Then I could have skated on them for like 2 months already and broken them in. Boo. Bad timing.

Anyway, I've been having foot problems recently. We do a LOT more toe stop work here than I have in Australia, and in the last month or so I've noticed my feet cramping up after I skate a lot. Like, the bottoms of my feet would be all cramped and my toes would feel like they were scrunched up. Ouch. My claw feet were getting pretty bad, because they were affecting my knees and back and stuff. I thought having sore feet was normal after you skate. FYI, it's not. I even got fancypants arch support thingies in my skates to see if they would help. They don't, and they actually made it worse. Once after BAD training my foot hurt so much it took me like five whole minutes to get it out of my skate. And I couldn't even swear properly because my teeth were gritted.

Fancy arch support thing with heel cup. Did not work.

So I'm telling Steffin this in the store, and she gave me a bunch of skates to try on. She also measured my foot. My feet are a 3.5 in skates. The Diablos I've been skating on are a 5. WHAT THE HELL. I have been skating since May last year on skates that were over a size too big. No wonder I've got foot problems and I've been sliding out everywhere and whatever.

Yay, skates to try on. The ones on the right are Pain GaLaura's.
I put my sweaty feet in them before she did, hahaha.

Steffin was really good and gave me a bunch of skates to try on. In fact, I think I tried on every skate boot in the store except the artistic fancypants break-your-ankle ones and the R3s (hell, I have Diablos, why would I need to try on R3s?!?). Nothing fit. Seriously, stupid tiny feet. I even tried on Pain's skates (which she hadn't picked up yet from the store). They were a size 4, so still too big. But they were pretty nice. I approve of Pain's purchase. (Note: I told her this at training the week after, yay.) I tried on Bonts, all the Riedells they had, a pair of Antiks that were a 5.5 (so WAY too big, but the padding was nice), and I can't remember what else.

By this point, it was clear that none of their stock stuff was going to fit me. Steffin suggested that I come in on another day when Motley (that is, Motley Cruz, who owns the store) was in, so she could measure my feet properly and recommend stuff. So, a few days later, I hopped back down there to see what Motley could do.

My boot size isn't even on this goddamn scale!!

It was pretty awesome. First, she had a look at my feet (in the socks that I said I skate in). Then she measured my feet for length, and also for something called "ball girth". I have the mind of a twelve-year-old boy so I thought that was freaking hilarious. Basically, that's the bit around the ball of your foot (near the base of your big toe knuckle and around to your little toe knuckle and back over). It measures how wide your feet are. Mine are pretty damn wide, like a D size in shoe width. However, she also looked at my ankles and they're tiny and narrow, like a B width. I also have quite boxy toes, so she also took that into account. She recommended a couple of skates for me, like the 395 and the Shedevil, a pair of Bonts and something else. The thing was that a couple of them didn't actually come in a size small enough for my feet, so I'd have to get them special ordered. But that would take like 4-6 weeks, and I didn't have that much time in the US.
 
But yeah, then there were the Antiks! Yep. They fit nicely, and were in stock in my tiny foot size. I have the AR-1s coming, yo. I'm not going to be all like "OMG ANTIKS" just yet, because I haven't gotten them yet. But I certainly did put my deposit down and Motley ordered them for me that day. I liked the fact that they had some ankle support and were really cushy inside. I also got Dynapro plates (the Revenge ones don't go that small, boo). I ended up with the stock ones, because the color options were another $90. It'd be cool to have a pair of bright yellow Antiks or something, but yeah, the black ones will do for now. I AM SO GODDAMN EXCITE. I can't believe I skated that whole time (like, since May 2011) on the wrong size skates.

I AM GETTING THESE BABIES. FUCK YEAH.

Hopefully when they arrive and are the right size, I'll actually be able to skate properly, read, be 5636298x better at skating than I am now. Whee!!

But seriously, apparently claw foot can become permanent and stuff. Motley told me my foot pain was because my toes are scrunching up to try and get some traction in my skates since my feet are slipping around in them. Also, it means my front wheels aren't under the ball of my foot to be able to control where I go. It's totally worth getting someone to check out your feet and make sure your skates are fitted right. Having the wrong size skates also makes you more prone to muntings by falling or wrecking your ankle (which I did last year). So yeah. Have your feet checked out! You use them enough as it is, anyway.