Today I saw perhaps one of the most disgusting and disturbing things in my life. Those who know me, acknowledge that I am not easily nauseated. However, what I saw today completely made me ill.

During my swim this morning, I noticed what appeared to be booger just below a fellow swimmer's nose, who came to rest at the wall just after we completed an interval in the same lane. I made a motion for him to wipe his nose, whereupon I realized, that this was not a booger at all, but some sort of giant pustule growing off of his upper lip.

As I looked closer, I notice that the skin around milky white pus blob was all red and inflamed. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what sort of skin lesion this person was suffering from. This thing was enormous. If his face was the map of the United States, then this thing was the size
of Texas. I couldn't believe I was in the same water with him, much less the same lane.

Anyway, after about another 30 minutes of swimming and having to see this giant sunspot of pus many times, I suddenly noticed that the lesion was gone from his face like a trailer park after a tornado. A gapping hole was in his face where once existed the pustule from hell.

All I could now think about was that this slimy mess was now floating somewhere in the water. This is the same water that inevitably enters my mouth and nasal passages while I swim and breathe through the water. You can imagine the horrible thoughts now passing through my mind. Maybe it
touched my body. maybe it went into my mouth. maybe is got washed down my throat from that bit of water I swallowed when my face got splashed when I turned to breathe.

I have dealt with much pain and suffering throughout my training. This by far was the worst thing I have ever had to deal with.