Take my feet, please.
I forgot to take my potassium pill tonight before I went to practice and I'm going to just go ahead and chop my feet off. If it makes national news ("Derby crazed woman chops off own feet!") please know that I was a willing participant in the removal of my feet.
Seriously, my feet are holding me back. I'm in decent (ok, barely decent) aerobic and muscular shape thanks to working out like a rabid spider monkey for the past 5 years. I have been doing zumba, Pilates, and piyo (which is the satanic bastard child of Pilates and yoga but it's really just insanely hard plyometrics at the speed of light.) And thank fucking Maude I have been working out because I am not easily winded and my legs can take a lot of work without getting tired. If I were struggling aerobically and if my legs were tired this bullshit that is going on with my feet would break me. It isn't my skates and it isn't blisters; in my case it is straight up foot pain.
Basically my feet are in a constant charlie horse. Once we do plow stops or backwards skating (and by "do" I mean once I fail miserably at both) my feet are in AGONY. I'm not a wuss, I do not mind pain, I had a baby in a fishy pool in my own bedroom. But this foot pain is really in its own category. If you have never had a charlie horse count yourself lucky and eat your banana. If you are a newbie like me and your feet are trying to kill you here is what you can try:
1. Drink a ton of water
2. Consume potassium (I take a potassium pill but many skaters have suggested eating mustard by the small packet during practice. I cannot speak to this because I want to throw up just thinking about squeezing a mustard packet into my mouth. Also, I love pills and whenever I can solve all of life's problems with a pill I will do it.)
3. Mind your trucks. Now, I am no where near ready to give truck advice because I am still scared of my trucks but I have been told that super tight trucks make your feet work harder and that can cause cramping. Should you choose to loosen your trucks do it a quarter turn at a time and take them for a cautious spin before you go mohawking around the track.
4. Get some insoles. Granted, this did not help me even a little bit but when I pulled out the insoles that came with my skates I could see that they were just foot shaped felt. I bought shock doctor hockey insoles. You don't want a squishy gel insole.
5. Experiment with your laces. You want your skates to be secure and snug but feet are weird shaped and what is secure at your ankle might be strangulation at the ball of your feet. I use two laces in each skate (one for the top half and one for the top of the foot) and I give the wide ass ball of my foot slightly more breathing space. You can also skip grommets to relieve pressure.
When all of the unsolicited advice I just gave you doesn't work ice your feet when you get home. I stick mine in a literal bucket of ice water which is hellaciously painful after a few minutes but it eliminates the later, can't fall asleep death foot pain that I'm experiencing right now because I did not ice. Roll your feet on top of a lacrosse ball or a frozen water bottle. Soak them in Epsom salts. Take magnesium and/or use topical magnesium. Do whatever kind of foot strengthening exercises that might exist. Beg your loved one to massage your feet.... I don't know, my feet hurt so much I can't go on typing, I need to write around for a while.
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