Millennium junior Landen LeBlond in the invitational section of the mile at the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School in southern California this past weekend. LeBlond finished in third place with a time of 4:44.60.
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Millennium junior Landen LeBlond put together one of the most impressive efforts from a distance runner in Arizona prep track and field history this past weekend -- but it was almost derailed by a smoothie.
On Thursday evening, LeBlond recorded a massive personal best in the 3200m at the Scottsdale Distance Classic. LeBlond shaved off 16 seconds from her top time, running 10:22.01. That time puts her at No. 6 on the all-time state list.
What had already been a stellar season was taken up another notch. Confidence was high heading into the rest of the weekend, where she was slated to run in the invitational section of the mile at the 55th Arcadia Invitational in southern California.
The morning after, LeBlond decided to run for a shakeout before the drive to Arcadia. Following the run, LeBlond headed to a new local smoothie shop, Nectar, for a post-workout refreshment.
That's when disaster struck.
The worker who made the smoothie asked LeBlond, who has a nut allergy, if pea powder was fine. LeBlond responded that she it thought was.
But not too long after taking her first sips, LeBlond began to feel a sensation in her throat. So she hopped in her car and began to drive home.
Then nausea began. LeBlond, trying to stay calm as this is an experience she has been through before, thought a nap might help. It didn't.
"I wake up vomiting," LeBlond said. "After I vomited, my whole throat swelled up. So I went into anaphylactic shock. My dad heard me totally yacking, he ran upstairs, and was like, 'Oh my god!' I was talking funny, I was like, 'No, I can breathe. I swear. It's just my throat that is swelling.'"
LeBlond, wanting to not disrupt any travel plans, tried to play it off for an hour that she was fine. The biggest race of her life was waiting for her; LeBlond was focused on that.
After an hour of vomiting that reached her stomach acid though, LeBlond's parents -- Sabrina and Rich -- opted to take their daughter to the hospital at Abrazo in Goodyear.
LeBlond in the emergency room. She would go on to run one of the top 1600m times in state history just over 24 hours later.
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Upon arriving at the emergency room, nurses were admittedly worried about LeBlond given the severity and speed of allergic reactions.
"Guys, I'm fine. I can breathe," LeBlond said in a moment of reassurance.
"They put me on an IV with Benadryl," LeBlond continued. "I passed out, just slept. I was in the hospital for three or four fours -- or maybe it was longer than that, like five hours. I wake up, they clear us. Go home, get on the road."
The LeBlond Family rolled out of town at around 8 p.m. and arrived at Arcadia in the early hours of the morning. Luckily for LeBlond, her race wasn't scheduled later that evening until 8:02 p.m. so she still got a full night of sleep.
Considering she was scheduled to race against one of the fastest distance runners of her generation in Ventura sophomore Sadie Engelhardt, LeBlond needed all the rest she could get.
"I was super nervous because I just didn't feel strong at all," LeBlond said about her pre-race mindset. "I threw up everything and was super dehydrated. I just made sure that I was eating a lot, drinking a lot of water the next day."
Despite the brief stay in the hospital and subsequent depletion of her body's nutrients combined with the highly-anticipated matchup with Engelhardt, LeBlond moved to a state of confidence as the race got closer. The 10:22 solo effort played a role in that.
That calmness showed on the track as LeBlond ran a brilliant race to come in third place, finishing in 4:44.60. The time puts LeBlond at No. 3 on the all-time state list for the mile.
Using the MileSplit running conversion calculator, that time converts to a 4:42.95 1600m. That time places LeBlond at No. 2 on the all-time state list, behind Desert Vista's Dani Jones (4:39.88, 2015).
"I was so excited -- they're actually making fun of me for clapping," LeBlond laughingly said. "But I saw the time and I was shocked, just because I was looking for a PR, I was thinking like 4:48 or something. And it was a full mile too. I saw like 4:37 on the clock and was like, 'Oh my God.' It was surreal."
Now, only the most revered distance runner in state history sits ahead of LeBlond in the 1600m: Dani Jones, the former Desert Vista athlete who went on to win four NCAA championships at the University of Colorado and is currently a professional athlete for New Balance.
To be associated with a name like that is significant for LeBlond.
"It means a lot," LeBlond said. "I've looked up to Dani ever since I was in middle school and she was running for Colorado. I actually know the coach [Chris Hanson] who coached her, he's really cool and really supportive as well. It means a lot and I'm really excited."
And to think -- it almost didn't happen because of a smoothie.