Allen MacDonald -- the phenomenal 87 year old from Seal Beach -- is proof incarnate that skating makes you younger. Anybody who's ever strapped on a pair of skates has felt this rejuvenation sensation. It your overtakes body and mind within seconds of that first frictionless glide down the road.

A less appreciated benefit of skating, however, is its power to heal. Boldly stated, skating is therapy for what ails you. I know some San Francisco Bay Area women for whom skating has been nothing short of a medical miracle. One woman, attorney Diddo Clark, has used skating as a way to rebuild muscles after sustaining a severe groin injury while swimming around Manhattan. Her case for skating is unassailable.

Fueled by an irrational urge to confront her fear of dark water, Diddo got into marathon swimming. In 1983, she had already competed in the World Professional Marathon Federation race around Atlantic City and had twice finished the grueling 31.3 mile swim around Manhattan island.

20 minutes into her 3rd Manhattan swim, Diddo's upper right thigh began cramping. "It hurt so much all I could think of was swimming faster and finishing sooner so I could cry," Diddo recounts. Cry she did. Although she smashed the woman's record for swimming around Manhattan, her injury was so serious she could barely walk for the next two years. Six years of physical therapy helped Diddo stay mostly O.K. -- except for long, cold swims.

Unfortunately, Diddo's injury returned shortly after beginning her intercollegiate swimming career at Diablo Valley College in 1991, at age 41. Her leg just wouldn't support her weight anymore. An hour of physical therapy every day for the next year helped, but then a trivial provocation would give her a major set-back from which she would not fully recover. "I was in a downward spiral for the next 4 years, on crutches much of the time," Diddo recalled. My husband feared that I was wheelchair bound."

Diddo's doctors assembled a massive file filled with one misdiagnosis after another. In 1994 she had 12 physical therapy sessions, 22 appointments with 10 doctors at 5 clinics, and 40 square feet of MRI and CAT scan film. Meanwhile, her condition deteriorated and her doctors ran out of ideas. That's when Diddo decided to take matters into her own hands.

Diddo followed a lead from a Colorado doctor and investigated a manual on myofascial pain syndrome called Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, The Trigger Point Manual, by Janet Travell and David Simons. "I learned that trigger points are taut bands of muscles, a kind of muscle cramp," she explained. A particular section caught her attention because it described her situation in chilling detail: "Myofascial trigger points are extremely common and become a distressing part of nearly everyone's life . . .We classify myofascial trigger points as active or latent. An active trigger point causes pain. A latent trigger point in clinically silent with respect to pain, but may cause restriction of movement and weakness of the affected muscle. A latent trigger point may persist for years after apparent recovery from injury . . .Trigger points are activated directly by acute overload, overwork fatigue, direct trauma, and by chilling . . "

"That's me!" Diddo thought. She called co-author Simons and asked who in Northern California could confirm her own diagnoses of this syndrome. Tim Sawyer, an eminent doctor and physical therapist in San Jose, did confirm the diagnoses and helped Diddo develop a strategy to overcome it. A key component of the treatment was inline skating.

Diddo first tried on inline skates in a skate store. She literally took six steps and needed crutches for weeks afterward. Diddo explains her version of the athlete's overload principle: "One of my theories is that anything that sets me back that much is specific to my problem and that, if I can approach it gradually enough, it should help be rebuild my damaged muscles."
"So on February 8th, 1995, I bought a pair on inline skates," Diddo continued. "At that time, I couldn't walk more than a half a block without crutches. I had been using a handicapped placard on my car for a couple of years. I took one step with my new skates. The next day I took two steps. I increased very gradually each day on the linoleum floor of my entry hall. I didn't skate out of the house for more than 2 months. Then, outdoors, I slowly increased my skating until I was doing 10 miles on the Ironhorse Trail several times a week. Now I can skate 25 miles."

I can personally vouch for Diddo's excellent condition now. On two separate weekends, I spent a total of over 30 hours with Diddo on skates. Stretching is what kept her fresh. "I always ask my companions to let me know if I'm doing anything differently because they may be able to see trigger point effects before I feel them. Then, I stop, stretch, and feel rejuvenated."

Thanks in large part to the curative effects of inline skating, Diddo has transformed herself from a disabled marathon swimmer into an empowered marathon skater. In the next issue, I'll show you how Vicky Harrigan of Walnut Creek, CA, has employed in-lining as a way to repair a broken heart after the loss of a loved one. Meanwhile, enjoy the therapeutic benefits of skating!


Truth-in-reporting requires disclosure of the fact that, like Allen MacDonald, Diddo Clark also uses the same brand of inline skates as the author, Roces. Eddy Matzger pursues his love of long distance skating with TWINCAM bearings, PowerBars, Breathe Right nasal strips, and Transpack backpacks and sunglasses.