Upgrading Vixen

Last week massages were cancelled so I reserved a time for this Wednesday. I knew already that my lower back is in better condition than it was two weeks ago but this was like a final touch. Well it is clear now that the problem is not with my back or my stance but the amount of exercise I did and of my skating style. Too much too fast. The masseur said my lower back seems great again but I still need to work with my buttocks and the outsides of my thighs. He gave me a permission to finally do some long 30-60 seconds stretching. I'm going to have to wait at least a week before getting back to squatting and RVP. Anyway it feels good to be finally getting better.

Today I wanted to write how I've upgraded my Riedell Vixens. I skated for the first four months with the original package and only bought new wheels in August. I chose Atom Juke 93A mainly because I had easy access to those and had heard good about those too. They are so much faster and more agile than the old super wide wheels Vixens had on them. They were really like practice wheels for beginners and I feel like upgrading wheels has really brought a lot to my skating. I wanted to get new bearings and cushions too but the wheels were expensive and I was out of money. I needed a new helmet too before the first scrimmage. Finally this week I got my new safer helmet, soft cushions and new bearings. I tried my old bearings compared to those new and I don't think the original ones were never really good. These new ones costed only 15 euros a package of eight and felt smoother already feeling with my fingers. They are Independent 5s that my team mate got for a bunch of us. The 5 of course stands for Abec-5, which is recommendable for roller skates (Abec-5 to Abec-7). There's quite a lot of jumping and stuff that puts bearings under a pressure so it's wiser not to buy the most expensive bearings - unless you've got some extra money.

I really can't decide which was cooler a feeling: new wheels or new soft cushions. My old wheels were wide, clumsy and had a weird inset in the middle of the wheel. These new ones are slimmer and harder which enables me to go faster with less effort. The only problem is that these are a bit too hard for our practice places which have a slippery floor. But the floors in Pasila and Hamina... oh boy these are something alright!

How about the new sooooooft cushions? When I changed those to my skates on I got a great advice from the girls that had already changed those. It was to tighten those up as tight as I could get them. I understood the reason right away when we got to the floor. My feet had already used to working really hard for changing directions, turning and leaping. So they continued the extra effort and all my moves made me feel almost like I was first time on skates! But it was only 15 minutes that my feet got the point and noticed they don't have to work that hard anymore to change the center of gravity inside the skate anymore. Just a little leaning could do, almost like doing yoga with bare feet, when you are waving your body with the small muscles in your soles. In time I will be able to loosen them up a little and become even more fluent. Actually changing the cushions really pushed me forward with agility, I feel much more comfortable moving around fast. One thing I also noticed after these two on skates practices is I can keep my balance so much easier when my skates give in a bit. Oh the new bright red cushions!

Soft cushions, get 'em!