It's a little ironic that I gave my Ignite talk about slacklining at a time when I wasn't able to set foot on a slackline myself. During the summer I seriously stressed a bone in my left foot with too much walking and balance training, and by August I was keeping off my feet as much as possible and wearing a stabilization boot. (I was wearing that boot when I gave my talk.) Even after I started seeing a doctor my foot kept getting worse instead of better. This put a lot of strain on my opposite knee, which is already prone to pain from a previous dance injury, and so I spent most of October and November in a wheelchair.
In December, with no indication that things were going to get better, I finally switched to a new physical therapist, the fantastic Laura Bannister of Avant Physical Therapy. My foot began improving shortly after. It's a wonderful feeling -- it's much easier to look past current difficulties knowing that my foot is worlds better than it was before and continuing to improve. I'm out of the stabilization boot and starting to take short daily walks around town, and so naturally my fancy lightly turns to thoughts of slack rope walking.
So I asked how long it would be before I can walk a slack rope again, and this was the answer: when I'm able to walk three miles and think nothing of it -- no pain or trouble, no need to rest up my feet beforehand or take time for them to recover afterwards -- that's when we'll know I'm in good shape to get back up on the line.
It'll be a while, I'm sure, but I'm really, really looking forward to it.
So I asked how long it would be before I can walk a slack rope again, and this was the answer: when I'm able to walk three miles and think nothing of it -- no pain or trouble, no need to rest up my feet beforehand or take time for them to recover afterwards -- that's when we'll know I'm in good shape to get back up on the line.
It'll be a while, I'm sure, but I'm really, really looking forward to it.
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