Terrel is the sort of therapist a committed athlete would dream to cross paths with. Unfortunately there is a definite shortage of Terrels in the sports world; but this increases the value of the only one that we have. I am a middle distance runner from Italy, and I met him in the spring of a few years ago, when I moved to Washington DC. As far as running was concerned, I was hitting my historic low: having carried an Achilles injury for almost two years (an initial muscular tear transformed into proper tendon damage, which later generated a dreadful heel bursitis), I had not been able to put my spikes on for a long time, and I was actually considering a permanent switch to road running, or to quit the sport altogether, because of that. Then within a few days of my arrival in DC, I met a group of guys whom I started to run with. After hearing my story, one of them came up with a providential “I think I should introduce you to Terrel, he surely can fix you”. I was very disillusioned with all things sports — coaches, physios, even my own body — so I instinctively asked “And how on earth would he be able to fix a hopeless runner?”, at which he replied “Black magic… or something. I don’t know how he does it, but I can tell you he’s very special.” So I gave him a call — after all I had just set foot in America, and you don’t go to America without trusting, at least one tiny bit, all the narrative about it being a place where all things are possible.
He saw me the same evening. I took the metro to Rockville and he came to pick me up by car. I told him about my injury history, we made an assessment of the situation and he said, “Paolo, I think you and I should work together. You should come to see me as frequently as you can. Take the metro and do your workouts around here, then I’ll see you straight after training, which is the best time to get a massage. The point is, you need to run in order to rebuild strength in your muscles and tendons, which otherwise will remain too weak and prone to injury; but at the same time we must constantly keep the muscles as loose as possible, or the tendon will suffer and the bursitis won’t go away.” Well, it wasn’t black magic after all, but I was struck by the lucidity of this plan. And Terrel looked very passionate about his job. He suggested that we agree on a total sum, and then he would see me even 3-4 times a week for a few months, squeezing me wherever he could into his work schedule, if I was willing to see him (and plan my workouts accordingly) at different times and locations.
The game started. Most days I would get off the metro at White Flint and then do my workout in Rock Creek Park, carefully planning the distance with googlemaps so that I could be at Terrel’s on time for the appointments. On Wednesdays he would see me in Dupont Circle, an easy treatment as Wednesdays are busy days for him. On Saturdays we would meet in the back rooms of the Georgetown Running Co. store in Chevy Chase, again with me getting there running through the park, from downtown.
It was not easy and besides my calves, at one point my vastus medialis got very tight too, and perhaps slightly torn. But I would keep seeing Terrel and he would always be very patient with me, as he knows athletes can get moody when times get rough, and there’s not much one can do about it apart from bearing with them. I confess I was also a bit doubtful about the utility of all this. But he was so positive and so passionate I was even feeling guilty for being the one who was doubting I would ever recover from my condition; it was as if he was sometimes more concerned about my recovery than I myself was. So the spring went on, and things finally started to get better. The time came to decide whether or not I would prepare the summer track season, which starts in late May in Europe. I was set to move back there in the summer, and my Italian team was pressing me to run. But to me the question was, would I dare put on my spikes again? The situation still looked quite sore and I was afraid I would break something; only a few months earlier, a surgeon back in Italy had told me my troubles wouldn’t be over without surgery, and that I would probably break the tendon if I kept running on it. Now I know that asking a surgeon for this type of advice is like asking a cab driver if there also is a bus going where you want to go, but well, when your body is at stake you tend to think carefully before dismissing any advice, right? But trust in Terrel’s method had started to break in, and I thought, dear surgeon, perhaps I’m in the hands of a guy whose ability you didn’t consider. So I started to try my spikes on the grass. I used to go down to the Lincoln Memorial, which was quite close to my office, and for the first sessions I would only do strides; then I figured out the length of the reflecting pool (about 610m) and would run lengths of the pool off short recoveries, and I would then immediately go see Terrel afterwards (in Dupont or Rockville, depending which day it was), and he would work on my calves and loosen them. Week after week things got better, and I managed to start using my spikes on the track too.
Then came the time to move to Europe. To make a long story short, that summer I clocked times which I hadn’t been able to run for years, including a very fast 3k steeplechase, which was quite amazing if you think that my landing foot after the water jump was the one that gave me trouble. I qualified for and run the Italian senior championship, and most importantly, the bursitis disappeared. With no magic other than competence and passion and his hands, Terrel had been able to do what I thought wouldn’t be possible without surgery. Sure, my performances that year weren’t any world class standard — but something much more important had happened: I was back into running!
So, the story isn’t over. The following winter I visited DC again, en route to running an indoors 3k in one of the best collegiate meets of the season, which was taking place in Boston the following weekend. I booked Terrel, who worked on my legs twice that week, especially focussing on my calves which had been sore for a while, perhaps due to the fact that it was a busy time of the year and I wasn’t getting much rest at all. However, I distinctly remember how strong my lower legs felt on race day as soon as I put on my spikes, and in the end I stormed home with a big PR. Terrel’s magic hands had once again done a great job!
What can I say… I am based in London these days and I miss him hugely. I am preparing a marathon, and heaven knows how important it would be for me to have someone as passionate and committed as he is to work on my legs regularly. But stay assured that if I were to move back to DC one day, and if my running days won’t have been over by then, I will resume a routine of Rock Creek Park workouts, followed by regular visits to that particular house in Rockville.

– Paolo Natali, runner

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