Changing my Goggles for the First Time EVER

>> Thursday, June 10, 2010

Yeah. I’m gross. I’ve been swimming since November or December of 2005, and I’ve been wearing the same pair of goggles for that entire time. They’ve been working fine, so I figured I should leave well-enough alone.

But since this past winter, I’ve noticed a fungus / parasite / “goggle cancer” growing inside my lenses. Here’s what’s been growing around the seal:



I’ve just been trying not to look at it as I put on my goggles. What you can’t see can’t hurt you, right?...

Being Liberty Tri is this weekend, I figured it was time to try out some new goggles. So I got out the goggles that Pro Triathlete Chris McDonald Big Sexy sent me.



If you don’t remember that story, here’s a refresher. Chris McDonald won IM WI 2008, so when Pharmie and I went out to volunteer in 2009, Chris was on the cover of all of the spectator guides:



We volunteered all day at IM WI 2009, and we started in the morning as “wetsuit strippers.” I stripped Chris, and he dropped his goggles before running off. I wore them around for the rest of the morning:



Sure, I wanted to keep them, but I figured the proper thing to do was to find his gear bag and place them with the rest of his stuff. So I kissed them for luck, and then put them back with his things:



Chris found out about all of this, and he actually sent me those goggles that he wore during IM WI last year! He also autographed a hat and sent that too!! How cool is that!! (Click here to read the post when I got his goggles in the mail.) Well, I figured it was time to “upgrade” my goggles, so I figured I’d try out Chris’s, and hope that he left some good juju in there.

I headed to the pool with his goggles, and went for a little swim to make sure they’d work. I’m not lying or exaggerating when I say that even though I did NOT have my contacts in, I could see BETTER than when I wear my contacts just because the lenses weren’t beat up from 4 years of training and racing!! REALLY! It was SOOO clear!

I was also turning out some REALLY FAST 100 splits! I figured that might be due to clearly seeing the clumps of hair, band-aids, and things that look like someone was trying to paint with a turd at the bottom of the pool - maybe being able to clearly see all that crap was pushing me to get in and out of the pool as quickly as possible! But then I realized it was because I had shaved my body a few days before. I think that really made a difference, because I felt like I was swimming around 1:40 pace, when really I turned in a swim with a 1:33.6 / 100 average. I’ve never done something like that before!!


Yesterday's swim

So between the new goggles filled with good juju from Chris McDonald Big Sexy and the freshly shorn body, I figure I’m ready to race on Saturday!! Check back tomorrow for a video and photos of me making my transformation from Sasquatch to 10-year-old boy! ;)

13 comments:

Pahla 8:36 AM, June 10, 2010  

Awesome splits! I love that you have a picture of you kissing the goggles, nicely done.

Matty O 8:36 AM, June 10, 2010  

Haha, love your personality.

Great job gettin' Big Sexy's Juju... that just sounds wrong.

KovasP 10:01 AM, June 10, 2010  

Shaved body and new goggles? No wonder you were fast!

misszippy 10:30 AM, June 10, 2010  

I tend to use my goggles a bit too long as well...your fungus may have inspired me to get a new pair!

SteveQ 10:31 AM, June 10, 2010  

I found the same stuff growing on the threads of my water bottle caps. Blecch! I've been drinking that? Time for some new purchases.

Iron Girl Nyhus 12:45 PM, June 10, 2010  

Judging by the picture of your goggles... NASTY! Glad you are getting some use out of Big Sexy's.

RFalkenrath 1:25 PM, June 10, 2010  

Ew, ya, I saw the same thing in my goggles and I need to find my way to Dick's Sporting goods to get new ones... yuk.

Keith 5:23 PM, June 10, 2010  

I have those identical goggles! Well, without the pro taint, I guess. Aquasphere? Still going strong after more than a year now, swimming 3x a week on average. They've never leaked a drop.

teacherwoman 6:14 PM, June 10, 2010  

Your old goggles just look nasty! yikes!

Those new ones look like Aquaspheres... I just got a pair of those myself a couple months ago and LOVE 'em!

Anonymous,  4:12 PM, June 11, 2010  

And that children, is how you get pink eye...lol!

CoachLiz 8:30 AM, June 16, 2010  

That crust in your goggles was nasty!

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