Efraimson Bounces Back From Early Exit At USAs With Pan Am Bronze

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

With a bronze medal from the Pan American Games in hand, Alexa Efraimson is happy to end her season, let her foot heal completely, and begin dreaming big for 2020. 

The Nike pro made a startling comeback to make the podium in Peru last week after failing to advance out of the first round of the women's 1,500 meters at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines two weeks earlier. 

"It was a celebration for the end of the season, one which I've made a lot of mental growth," Efraimson said. "I learned a lot and I had some of the best workouts of my life (in 2019)."

Efraimson, 22, got the season off to a fine start in April when she won the 1,500 meters in frigid conditions at the Drake Relays. 

Then she went to China where she ran 4:04 twice within three days in May. 

But it was in China where Efraimson began to feel something painful — occasionally at first, then more consistent — in the top of her left foot. 

As it turned out, Efraimson had an "overstretched ligament," she said. 

By June, it was messing with her mechanics and she was forced into weeks of cross-training — aqua jogging, rowing and cycling.

She ran 4:06.77 for 10th place at the Prefontaine Classic at Stanford on just a few track workouts. 

"I could see she wasn't putting any force in the ground on her left side," her coach, Mike Hickey, said. 

Instead of being able to demonstrate her PR-level fitness, and workouts indicated four-minute-flat shape, she grappled with trying to get the injury solved before nationals. 

Efaimson underwent PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy in July, two weeks out, in order to speed up the healing process. PRP treatment involves removing a patient's blood, spinning it in a centrifuge, and re-injecting it into the injured tissue.

The treatment also meant she had to spend a full week off her feet — on the cusp of the U.S. Championships. 

Efraimson did what she could to prepare for the meet in Des Moines, which included a loaded women's 1,500 field aiming to make the World Championships team. 

The lost training time hurt. Efraimson ran just "three or four" times in the week leading up to her race after the mandatory week off. She finished seventh in her first round heat of the women's 1,500 meters and did not advance to the semifinal. 

"After USAs I felt like I was in a little bit of a slump," Efraimson said. "It didn't go as planned and it was disappointing."

But, day by day after the race in Des Moines, the pain continued to recede and Efraimson gained more and more of the flexibiity and strength back in her foot. 

The opportunity to go to Pan Ams was there, based on her fast times earlier in the season, and she wanted to give it a shot. 

"Pan Ams was my first senior national team and I thought if I was healthy, I should do it," Efraimson said. 

Hickey continued putting Efraimson through drills to "re-educate" her foot and get it back to where she could push off her toes again. 

The foot seemed to respond just in the nick of time. 

In the 1,500 final, won by U.S. teammate Nikki Hiltz, Efraimson ran near the front with confidence and opened up over the final lap to pull away into medal contention. Hiltz sprinted to gold (4:07.14) followed by Jamaica's Aisha Praught-Leer (4:08.26) and Efraimson, in 4:08.63.

"It was really good," Efraimson said. "I think ending the season on a high note, knowing how much work you've put in, is worth something. It shows me I can compete on the senior level."