OT ... rollerblades

Art <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Hoping that someone on this newsgroup can help me with rollerblading.

: I've started rollerblading (acutally I'd rather cycle but my wife likes rollerblading) and after
: I've gone about a mile or two my arch starts to hurt. I've tried an arch support purchased from
: the local pharmacy. Anyone been able to deal with this successfully?

The pain is caused by the constant bike path hogging you are doing. Going from side to side at 8
miles per hours will strain the tendons in your feet. The pain is amplified by the migrain you are
suffering from. The music you are listening to in your headphones is much to loud and you cannot
care the least that you have stacked up 20 bell ringing cylclists behind you.

--------------------------------
Bob Masse' [email hidden]
--------------------------------

x-no-archive:yes

Quoted message said:

Art <> wrote:
: Hoping that someone on this newsgroup can help me with rollerblading.

: I've started rollerblading (acutally I'd rather cycle but my wife likes rollerblading) and after
: I've gone about a mile or two my arch starts to hurt. I've tried an arch support purchased from
: the local pharmacy.

Anyone

Quoted message said:

: been able to deal with this successfully?

Quoted message said:

The pain is caused by the constant bike path hogging you are doing. Going from side to side at 8
miles per hours will strain the tendons in your feet. The pain is amplified by the migrain you are
suffering from. The music you are listening to in your headphones is much to loud and you cannot
care the least that you have stacked up 20 bell ringing cylclists behind you.

--------------------------------
Bob Masse'

This was funny, Bob. And, something I've seen a lot of! There they are, swaying from one side of the
"Bicycle Path" to the other with straight-out arms---and I am trying to pass, but I can't get their
attention because of the headphones.

Pat in TX

Quoted message said:

Anyone been able to deal with this successfully?

Quit rollerblading. You take up too much space

Jkpoulos7 said:

Quoted message said:

Anyone been able to deal with this successfully?

Quit rollerblading. You take up too much space

Guess I lack the essential cyclist gene: as I approach a graceful lady rollerblader from behind, I
slow down without realizing it. Just roll along, gazing at the poetry. <G> One particular gal is so
powerful that I don't have to slow down much, but I don't see her very often because she's out early
while I don't get going until 7:00 or so.

"Art" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hoping that someone on this newsgroup can help me with rollerblading.

I've started rollerblading (acutally I'd rather cycle but my wife likes rollerblading) and after
I've gone about a mile or two my arch starts to hurt. I've tried an arch support purchased from
the local pharmacy. Anyone been able to deal with this successfully?

Ride a bike.

problem solved.

-luigi

(Jkpoulos7) said:

Quoted message said:

Anyone been able to deal with this successfully?

Quit rollerblading. You take up too much space

Didn't we just get done (quite rightly) beating up on a Christian Fundamentalist Conservative who
wrote an op-ed piece saying essentially the same things to a group bicycle ride?

Maybe I dreamt that...

"Art" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hoping that someone on this newsgroup can help me with rollerblading.

I've started rollerblading (acutally I'd rather cycle but my wife likes rollerblading) and after
I've gone about a mile or two my arch starts to hurt. I've tried an arch support purchased from
the local pharmacy.

Anyone

Quoted message said:

been able to deal with this successfully?

I don't know which kind of inlines you have (hockey or rec style), but I can tell you that in
general, skates of any kind are a huge pain to break in. I dread having to break in new hockey
skates. The boot is necessarily stiff to support your foot and ankle and until the boot moulds to
your foot (which can take months..), pain is inevitable. It took me 3 months to break a pair of
hockey skates in once..and I play 3 times a week. Once broken in though, they lasted 5 years and
were magic. More than any other footwear, I think skates are critical as far as fit goes. If you
have any funky things going on with your feet, like narrow heels or low arch or high arch, they will
be quite obvious after 10 or 15 minutes in skates. It really pays to shop around and try on many
different pairs in different sizes and widths.

To break them in faster, you can try wearing thick-ish socks and putting your inlines on in the
house while watching television or whatever. Tighten them up as much as you can bear and leave them
on for 10 or 15 or 30 mins. Eventually the boot will begin to form to your foot. When you go skating
wear much thinner socks and you'll have some clearance and the boot should be starting to fit a
little better.

Another thing to consider is that maybe you just can't skate that well. No offense, but sometimes if
you have balance problems, people will tense up their feet quite a bit and they'll get cramps from
being as rigid as a post. I don't know how well you skate, but it might help to relax your feet a
bit as you skate.

Cheers,

Scott..

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by S. Anderson
> I've gone about a mile or two my arch starts to hurt. I've tried an arch support purchased from

Quoted message said:

the local pharmacy.

Anyone

Quoted message said:

been able to deal with this successfully?

Inline skates are quite like hockey skates and shouldn't take much to break in at all. Maybe the ones you got are not right for your feet. Some places will let you take them back if they're giving you that much trouble.

Zippy the Pinhead said:

Didn't we just get done (quite rightly) beating up on a Christian Fundamentalist Conservative who
wrote an op-ed piece saying essentially the same things to a group bicycle ride?

Maybe I dreamt that...

Nope. It happened. It's just sad. Everyone has their own prejudices and their own self interests.
Screw everybody else. Sigh.

Tollerance is hard to find.

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

[email hidden] brightened my day with his incisive wit when in "]news:[email hidden]
he conjectured that:

Quoted message said:

Art <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Hoping that someone on this newsgroup can help me with rollerblading.

: I've started rollerblading (acutally I'd rather cycle but my wife likes rollerblading) and after
: I've gone about a mile or two my arch starts to hurt. I've tried an arch support purchased from
: the local pharmacy. Anyone been able to deal with this successfully?

The pain is caused by the constant bike path hogging you are doing. Going from side to side at 8
miles per hours will strain the tendons in your feet. The pain is amplified by the migrain you are
suffering from. The music you are listening to in your headphones is much to loud and you cannot
care the least that you have stacked up 20 bell ringing cylclists behind you.

*LOL*

Priceless.

--
Walter Mitty.

Quoted message said:

I've started rollerblading (acutally I'd rather cycle but my wife likes rollerblading) and after
I've gone about a mile or two my arch starts to hurt. I've tried an arch support purchased from
the local pharmacy. Anyone been able to deal with this successfully?

Make sure you're not "clenching" your toes; new skaters are often a bit tense and this can cause the
sort of arch pain you're describing.

Suzan (who used to race on inlines)

In article said:

Quoted message said:

I've started rollerblading (acutally I'd rather cycle but my wife likes rollerblading) and after
I've gone about a mile or two my arch starts to hurt. I've tried an arch support purchased from
the local pharmacy. Anyone been able to deal with this successfully?

Make sure you're not "clenching" your toes; new skaters are often a bit tense and this can cause
the sort of arch pain you're describing.

Suzan (who used to race on inlines)

Toe clenching is also caused by boots that are too big or people who over-pronate. The clenching is
an effort to control the foot in the boot. When the foot pronates excessively it flattens at the
arch, lengthens at the toe and widens at the ball. The talus (ankle bone) and/ or the navicular
usually make contact with the boot in unintended places. People who over pronate usually feel they
have a hard time staying "on top" of the skate so the skater tries to balance on the outside of
their feet. This also leads to arch cramping.

The answer is to buy a skate that fits the size of your foot when it's unweighted and then control
the foot with pads, inserts and/or orthotics to lessen the pronation. For the OP who already has
skates, try to find out where the local racers get their boots and go there for a fit session or try
a local figure skating/Hockey pro shop. These issues are absolutely universal for all types of
sports that use boots and within each discipline it's possible to find someone who may be able to
help with the boots you have.

Kurt (who used to be a custom ski-boot fitter)

x-no-archive:yes

Quoted message said:

Toe clenching is also caused by boots that are too big or people who over-pronate. The clenching
is an effort to control the foot in the boot. When the foot pronates excessively it flattens at
the arch, lengthens at the toe and widens at the ball. The talus (ankle bone) and/ or the
navicular usually make contact with the boot in unintended places. People who over pronate usually
feel they have a hard time staying "on top" of the skate so the skater tries to balance on the
outside of their feet. This also leads to arch cramping.

The answer is to buy a skate that fits the size of your foot when it's unweighted and then control
the foot with pads, inserts and/or orthotics to lessen the pronation. For the OP who already has
skates, try to find out where the local racers get their boots and go there for a fit session or
try a local figure skating/Hockey pro shop. These issues are absolutely universal for all types of
sports that use boots and within each discipline it's possible to find someone who may be able to
help with the boots you have.

Kurt (who used to be a custom ski-boot fitter)

Kurt, I read your post with great interest. I tend to "toe clench" but I have extremely high arches
(a podiatrist wanted to take photos once and put them in an article he was writing, sigh.) So, I
don't pronate. I do have to wear orthotics, though. I take them and try them in every shoe/boot that
I buy. I don't have inline skates, but I do have ice skates and I have noticed many similar problems
when I wear them. Gotta have lots of inserts or pads or something!

Pat in TX

In article <[email hidden]>, Pat <[email hidden]> wrote:

pat,

See a good fitter so he can see the wear patterns in your boot. A very quick consideration of your
post makes me wonder, "why are you clenching? Do you not feel you have control of your inside edge?
Or are you trying to keep pressure off your arch? A high foot is USUALLY a rigid foot but that isn't
100 percent. It may be that you would benefit from some extra firm re-inforcement (pads) around your
ankle. OR, you just may need to work on relaxation. : )

Quoted message said:

Kurt, I read your post with great interest. I tend to "toe clench" but I have extremely high
arches (a podiatrist wanted to take photos once and put them in an article he was writing, sigh.)
So, I don't pronate. I do have to wear orthotics, though. I take them and try them in every
shoe/boot that I buy. I don't have inline skates, but I do have ice skates and I have noticed many
similar problems when I wear them. Gotta have lots of inserts or pads or something!

Pat in TX

x-no-archive:yes

Quoted message said:

pat,

See a good fitter so he can see the wear patterns in your boot. A very quick consideration of your
post makes me wonder, "why are you clenching? Do you not feel you have control of your inside
edge? Or are you trying to keep pressure off your arch? A high foot is USUALLY a rigid foot but
that isn't 100 percent. It may be that you would benefit from some extra firm re-inforcement
(pads) around your ankle. OR, you just may need to work on relaxation. : )

Kurt, I even "clench" when I go hiking or distance walking! When I used to run I kept telling myself
"let the toes float" so as to avoid the problem. Heck, maybe I am walking barefooted too much! At
least I don't "clench" when I ride my bike...

Pat in TX

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Toe clenching is also caused by boots that are too big or people who over-pronate. The clenching
is an effort to control the foot in the boot. When the foot pronates excessively it flattens at
the arch, lengthens at the toe and widens at the ball. The talus (ankle bone) and/ or the
navicular usually make contact with the boot in unintended places. People who over pronate usually
feel they have a hard time staying "on top" of the skate so the skater tries to balance on the
outside of their feet. This also leads to arch cramping.

The answer is to buy a skate that fits the size of your foot when it's unweighted and then control
the foot with pads, inserts and/or orthotics to lessen the pronation. For the OP who already has
skates, try to find out where the local racers get their boots and go there for a fit session or
try a local figure skating/Hockey pro shop. These issues are absolutely universal for all types of
sports that use boots and within each discipline it's possible to find someone who may be able to
help with the boots you have.

Kurt (who used to be a custom ski-boot fitter)

Getting some good, extensive help with fitting is a very good idea with skates and ski boots because
they are so tough on your feet. But even with good fitting, I still think the chance exists for
pain. Let's face it, unlike ski boots, which are very much like skate boots in that they usually are
designed to fit very tightly, skates have little padding and room to adjust (racing ski boots
excepted..I believe they have very little padding, an effort to gain as much performance from the
boot as possible, much like a hockey skate). If you want the performance, you have to get them quite
tight so that your foot isn't flopping around in there. And if they're anywhere near the correct
size, they're bound to have tight spots. People's feet are so very different from person to person,
it's impossible to have one skate type fitting all people. You end up with tight spots and your foot
is forced to conform to the skate shape. Eventually, the boot loosens up bit by bit and you get
something that's tight AND tolerable. But it can be a long road. As an example, good hockey skate
boots are nearly impossible to bend with your bare hands. The boot, usually made of nylon and
leather, is very stiff. They take a long time to break in..a process that is somewhat speeded up
with skate ovens that warm the material enough that when you immediately put them on and tighten
them up, they form to your foot much more quickly. Fortunately they last a good long time. I usually
have 2 pairs of skates on the go..my old, broken in pair, and another pair that I'm slowly breaking
in. I often tell people the first thing I'd save from my house if it was burning down would be my
hockey skates....