Balance Endurance: Getting ready for 8 mile railroad track walk

Aloha Tribe,

I have a non-operating (most of the time) railroad track near my home. I want to increase my balance skills endurance, so, I've been training myself to walk on the tracks from one small town to the next a distance of 4 miles, and then back again to where I started, for a total of 8 miles.

When I first started walking on railroad tracks, I'd fall off now and again and have to momentarily place one or the other foot down. But, as I've been practicing on various diameter ropes, pipes, tree roots, bridge railings, fences, tree branches, rocks (of all sizes and shapes), and wires, ranging from about a 1/2 inch to 2 inches in diameter, I found that my railroad track walking balance has greatly improved, as has my endurance and concentration to stay on the tracks without falling.

One of my goals is to always look ahead as far as possible. There is a tendency, to watch ones feet or near the feet, but, by looking out, a distance, it aids surfing in that to surf well, you need to watch the wave and the water ahead of you, thus, this type of training greatly benefits and develops this skill.

It's taken a bit of focus and a lot of daily training night and day, but I'm finally starting to notice some progress in my slacklining (where the line can sway side to side), tight wire walking (where there is no swaying), and pole walking, where the pole can sway side to side as well as forwards and backwards (this one is the hardest for me so far).

I'm finding that the more I walk, the more I yearn to walk. And so, training leads to visualizing training, which leads to more training in an endless spiral of mental and physical workouts.

At this point, I'm starting to play with my body a bit, while balanced. I'll shift a hip here or there. Or tense a particular muscle to see what happens, and, how to recover from it. And, I'm rigid with my diet, trying to get as lean and ripped as possible.

Slowly, things are starting to pay off, though, I am but at the very beginning of my journey. Naturally, I want to take all that I learn on the ropes and wires, limbs and rocks, rooftops and rails, and bring it to my surfing. I had not mentioned rooftops yet, walking the peaks fascinates me as an art form.

This art is endless in its depth, for, by using Chi Gung as the root behind it all, there are unimagineable experiences to explore.

Much of my training is based on the  Shaolin martial arts and chi systems. As such, I have turned my home and yard into what looks like the training sequences from old Chinese Martial Arts movies.

I am working night and day on this, even at night, doing drills like vision training with candles, as well as vision training during the day of still objects and also moving ones. Such visual training greatly enhances a surfers abilities in reading the waves while riding them, as well as in spotting distant waves while in the line up.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley