Hello. I wanted to tell the fantastic results I got from massage therapy. I injured my hamstring insertion site about five years ago when I first started doing yoga. Over the past five years, I have been on multiple rounds of antiinflammatory drugs, have been to physical therapy, and have seen a pain doctor who injected the site(s) under flouroscopy three times, exposing me to radiation. The injection helped in the short term, but did nothing to attack the root cause of the pain. Undoubtedly, the pain would always return, and with a vengence.
Last summer, I started seeing Terrel Hale, a massage therapist specializing in sports injuries. I went out of desperation, but thinking that it would do no good. How could massage fix inflammation after all? But, I had nothing to lose. I saw him once a week for three months. It was quite a commitment, but worth it. Terrel found trigger points I didn’t even know I had. Somehow, releasing those helped the inflammation. He combined this massage with some ART. Within a few weeks, I could feel a difference. After three months, I was well on my way to recovery. I continued with ART and some massage for a few more months after that, but with decreasing frequency.
I can say that, today, I am almost completely pain free. My range of motion has increased exponentially. I still continue with therpies because there is still work to do in that area, and others as well. But today, I can do a forward fold without pain, and my yoga practice has soared to new heights.
Thanks Terrel!
Diane Miller
I first came to Terrel about a year ago after reading about Active Release Therapy and wanting to give it a try to overcome the usual aches and pains of a running and resistance training regimen. At the time I had run 2 half-marathons and was about a 25 mile/week runner. For the past few years I had focused mostly on upper-body strength training, and I ran as a basic cardio activity. I went through bouts of shin splints, knee pain, and muscle tightness, but didn’t think much of it (happens to everyone, right?). I definitely did not consider myself a serious or competitive runner by any stretch.
It was my first spring in DC, and I quickly found myself signing up for more races in any given month than I had done in the year before I moved here. The more I ran, the more I loved it, and I wanted to run (and race) even more. My occassional appointments with Terrel became a standing weekly appointment. By the end of the summer I was logging 50+ miles a week, and had a peak week of 70 miles. Over the course of 6 months I had more than doubled my training volume, raised the intensity, and was running longer and faster than ever- all without injuries, pain, or missing a training day.
Terrel’s understanding of the endurance athlete, both body and mind, is the key to his work. Terrel draws on everything from his extensive knowledge of human physiology to his studies of Plato to develop a holistic, integrated approach to treating athletes. As a runner himself, he knows the physical and mental demands the sport places on you, and incorporates this into his treatment. Whatever ache, pain or injury you present to him, he is able not just to treat the symptoms and get you back on the roads, but he gets to the root cause of it- your shoes, your stride, compensations your body may be making, a mental block… whatever the case may be. He’s seen it all, and he’s been through it all himself. As a result, you leave a session not just with looser muscles, but with a better sense of how your mind and your body interact with each other to produce the results you want to see in your training.
These days, a 50-mile week is a light week for me. I’m training harder than ever, but more importantly, I’m training smarter. It is no exaggeration to say that I would not be able to maintain the physical and mental intensity of my training without my work with Terrel. Whatever your sport is, and whatever your level is, Terrel will make you a stronger and smarter athlete.
-GP, Runner
Georgetown Sports Massage: Client Testimonials from Georgetown Sports Massage on Vimeo.
Georgetown Sports Massage: Clients Testimonials
I am a serious collegiate rower who is c0nsidering making an attempt at some national team stuff this summer. My erg scores have been solid for shorter pieces, but my longer pieces are behind the standards. After working with Terrel for a few weeks I feel looser and more elastic. This has allowed me greater length on my stroke and a greater ease of motion. On a recent 5k erg test I was successful in PR’ing by a full split. I believe that much of the credit for this PR is due to Terrel and the work he’s done with me.
I’ve been to a number of sports masseuses and Terrel is the best I’ve seen. As a serious athlete himself, he’s able to relate to my goals and he understands the mental aspect of sports really well.
Tim
I am in the DC area and have been implementing a very rigorous training program in order to prepare for special operations training. My regimen includes constant running, swimming, pushups, pullups, situps, strength training, etc. This amount of training has inevitably led to very frustrating tendonitis issues, but that all ended when I met Terrel Hale.
In the past, I would either “train through” the pain or simply rest a few days and hit it hard again. But the flaring up would always come back. Finally, after the fourth or fifth battle with my achilles tendon, I decided to give Terrel a try.
I have now been working with him for just over a month now, and I cannot believe the difference in my training. Although working out the knots throughout my legs and back was painful at first, the work Terrel does is extremely effective. In addition to sports massage therapy, he uses a technique called ART, which actively breaks up the scar tissue and loosens the tendons and muscles. This technique has not only helped my achilles tendon, but also my shoulder which was flaring up from time to time. He also encouraged me to start taking “ice baths” (44 gallon tub with ice and water) which circulates fresh blood throughout the legs which helps heal your tissue. Although this was not the most enjoyable experience, the effect it had on my legs was incredible, and I now perform this ritual several times a week.
Although Terrel’s focus is running, I was very impressed with his knowledge of all types of exercises and how the body responds to them. He truly cares about his clients’ goals and objectives and helps with reaching them. I feel very fortunate to have Terrel’s work in tandem with my training. I am not only training injury free, but also without having to “tone down” my training in the slightest. With his help, I continue to get faster, stronger, and closer to being ready for Special Ops training.
My name is Karl Dusen. I ran for Columbia University and kept the training up after college in an attempt to move up to the marathon. I was fortunate enough to qualify for the 2007 Olympic Trials at that distance and had a great experience there, but didn’t get the result I was hoping for. Now that I moved to the DC area my focus is on qualifying for the trials again and having a greater impact on that race. Terrel was referred to me as someone who could be a real asset to my goals. I had my first massage with him on Friday and it was a great experience. He was able to work on my problem areas (calves mainly) as well as help me with the general soreness I’ve had from running 100+ mile weeks on the roads (thanks snow!). I am excited to work with him continually throughout my training leading up to the trials. I know it’s going to help me stay on track and recover while taking my training and racing to the next level.
I have been involved in rowing for my entire college experience. I would stretch both before and after practice. My hamstrings would always tighten up in the boat regardless of how much time I spent stretching beforehand. This in turn led me to have lower back pain, which has also followed me the past three years. I first met Terrel in the fall of my senior year. Terrel helped my hamstrings feel less and less tight. Within the first few weeks I could feel the difference. I had been able to erg faster than I had my first three years of college. In addition, while rowing in the boat, my hamstrings began to tense up less and less, allowing me to fully extend and reach out of the boat. In my sport every inch matters, and having my hamstrings tense up was keeping me from compressing fully. Terell has worked with me to so as to ensure that my hamstrings will not prevent me from pursuing this sport. Furthermore, because my hamstrings are less tight and tense, my lower back pain has all but disappeared.
Terrel was able to pinpoint problem areas and work on them. After each session I left feeling revitalized and relaxed. I have PRed this season on every workout and test piece. Terrel has played a major role in allowing me to reach this point and I am excited to see how much faster I can ultimately get.
Two years ago I injured my left shin and took time off running. After coming back, I started to notice pain in my right upper hamstring/butt area. I just thought it was a sore muscle. I was training for a marathon and over the next few months the pain was present even when I was not running, the worst was long drives in the car. I received a few treatments of massage for the problem and it seemed to help. I ran my marathon and quailed for Boston and set a PR. A few weeks later, I ran a half marathon and again ran a PR. But just a few days after my race the pain in my right hamstring was so bad I had to stop running. I called the doctor made an appointment and then called Terrel. I described the problem and he was able to see me. He worked on my hamstring and was able to feel that my muscles in the area were both tight and sore. About a week later, I went to the doctor and he ordered a MRI, my DX was ischial Tuberosity, better known as a parcel torn hamstring. I called Terrel and told him my DX. He said that he wanted to treat me in tandem with the the doctor. So, I saw Terrel twice a week for the next few months and over time my leg started to get better. I had stopped running at this point for a few months.
When I tried to run again and my left hamstring felt better but the pain came back. Terrel told me it would take time to heal but I really didn’t want to wait, I just wanted to run. I listened to Terrel and by the end of the summer my left hamstring was getting better. He did the ART for the semitendinosus, the middle hamstring muscle. I also had a stem cell procedure to help grow back the torn muscle. At this point I was still getting massage and ART but it was now starting to get better faster. The surgery helped but both Terrel’s massage and ART were helping it heal much faster than the doctor was calling for. A month after the surgery I started to run again. I was not taking any medicine. At this point, I was only getting massage and ART. If I missed an appointment, my left hamstring would hurt and I could not run that day.
Over time as we worked on a regular basis in tandem with my running, I was able to see it was Terrel’s work that was really helping me get back to running pain free. I started to run full time again in October of 2009. In December I ran a half marathon PR of 1:20:42. There is no question in my mind of two things. First, the consistent work that Terrel gave me over the months helped me got over this injury much sooner than the doctor said and second, the massages helped me run that half marathon PR. I would have never made it to the start if it was not for his skill. His is no doubt a gifted therapist
Hello!
I am a recent graduate of a D1 Track and Cross Country Program. When I moved to DC this summer, I decided that I wanted to continue with competitive running, so I joined a local team to continue with my training and fintess left over from Track season.
Things were going pretty well, I ran in a couple local 5k’s and did well. But then in early November, right before my first 10k, disaster struck. My right hamstring had been tight on and off all summer, and of course the week of my big race, it became unbearable. (And of course, I ran through the pain for just long enough to make the injury serious. Crap.)
Enter Terrel Hale’s massage program. I knew that my muscles were tight. Squeezing in runs before or after sitting for 8 hours at work is not the best thing for keeping your muscles loose. I always stretch, but not really enough.
In my first massage with Terrel, he focused entirely on my hamstring. Wow! Turns out I have knots in muscles I didn’t even know I had.
The next massage was on my hamstring and IT Band. Again, quite the painful, quite the knotty.
By my third appointment, I was still not back to running normally, so we took a different approach and worked on my Piriformis.
In addition to massage, I’ve been stretching an rolling out before and after my runs, and icing afterward.
I’m still not back to running normally, but I’m working on it. I will keep you updated on my progress!
-Mollie
For more about running, check out my truly fantastic blog! http://eatrunread.blogspot.com/
I had the opportunity and privilege to work with Terrel Hale from Georgetown Sports Massage in 2009. Terrel was instrumental in getting me back into Ironman racing shape after a leg injury in 2008 that had kept me sidelined for much of the past two years. Here’s my story:
Vineman Triathlon 20th Anniversary – August 1, 2009
Finish Time: 9:53:38.3 for 4th Overall
- Swim: 00:57:39.0
- T1: 00:02:18.5
- Bike: 05:13:44.4
- T2: 00:01:27.8
- Run: 03:38:28.6
Link to results: CLICK HERE.
As I headed out of transition at the start of the 26.2-mile run, race announcer Dave Latourette yelled to me: “You’re 24 minutes back on the leader.”
My heart sunk as a surge of disappointment and sadness welled up inside me. This was my 6th time racing in Vineman (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) in Santa Rosa, CA, and I had won the race two years ago by taking the lead at the end of the bike leg.
“Why am I doing this?” I asked myself. Trailing so far back from the leader, I contemplated quitting, as I began the run, urged on by my inner gremlins.
Then I remembered what my friend, Brady, told me (along the lines of): “Just give yourself 20-30 minutes to settle into the run before making any judgment.” I compromised with my inner gremlins to run “just one lap” then see how I felt. One lap was 1/3 of the course. Not that far. Just move forward. I could always drop out after that.
At the start of the run, my right leg – the leg that I’ve been troubled by since the Ocala Marathon in early 2009 – immediately tightened and nearly locked up. As I progressed out along the course for the first of three laps, my whole body began to hurt from the pounding on my feet and knees to a headache in my head.
At the end of the first lap, I truly wanted to quit but I was afraid. My fear was that if I quit, quitting would too easily become a habit. As humans, I believe we can rationalize any decisions we make. But, I needed something else more than that fear to keep going.
“Leadership by example.” These words were ingrained into me by the Naval Academy and the Navy. The primary motivation that kept me from quitting was the example I was giving my coaching clients: How can I ask them to do something that I’m not willing to do? I can’t.
With no chance at first after the bike, the competition on Saturday was all within myself.
Although I had irrationally dreamed of a fast time pre-race, I knew in my heart that my body was not ready to do what it did in 2007. I swam an unexpectedly fast swim but watched as my irresponsible dream slowly evaporated on the bike, as I was first 3 minutes then 14 minutes then 24 minutes behind the race favorite at the bike start, halfway point and bike finish.
There is something pure and emotionally raw about completing an Ironman triathlon. Even though I had already completed 25 Ironman distance races, this one was just as real and just as raw as the first. The distance hurts physically – sort of prolonged head battle between negative self-talk and motivating desire.
This race kept me honest. If I want to get faster like I did in 2007, then I need to make the commitment and invest the time to make it happen. Eight weeks of focused training starting June 1 – my “D-Day” for deciding to do the race – was not enough as I discovered. Improving my fitness to a sub-9 hour Ironman performance is possible. I believe it is. I do feel a sense of satisfaction in my race. I faced the fear and uncertainty that was inside me and I prevailed. I also feel a longing – I have gone faster on this course and I have the desire to go faster once again.
The question that I have to answer to myself is whether or not I want to make “faster” happen.
A very big thank you, Terrel, for bringing me back to the place where I can even ask this question – I look forward to even more success in 2010!
Live life richly and boldly!
David
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David B. Glover
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine: Fitting Iron Distance Training into Every Day Life
© 2009 David B. Glover
