Wednesday's Armory meet marks the first meet of my final track season at Uni. Although it's kind of an unofficial meet— no uniforms, no places, no scoring, and lighter competition— it's a meet nonetheless.

Armory meets are a mixture of fun and torture. It's fun because there isn't much pressure to do well; they are basically a workout to get a little bit of race experience. If you've ever run a race in the Armory you know why it's torture.

The air is extremely dry and your lungs are certain to be burning. I'll often cough for hours after an Armory meet. I haven't had the pleasant experience myself, but I've seen some people cough up blood after races. It's definitely a good thing there are big red trash cans all around the inside of the track that say "SPIT OR VOMIT HERE."

The constant buzzing, humming noise in the Armory is not too far off from that of an airplane cabin, but it's typically drowned out by the yelling of the ROTC. There are a lot of other loud noises in the Armory. The "XLERATOR" hand dryers sound like fighter jets.

Nonetheless, there is a warm, cozy, comforting feeling about the Armory. The Armory is familiar territory— during indoor season we're there for practice at 6 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Apart from the occasional leaking ceiling (drips have occurred a couple of times in my past five years of track), you never really have to deal with weather in the Armory. The Armory has its own kind of weather for morning practices, though.

Some days it's extremely crowded with ROTC, police training, the Navy, and other groups sharing the space. On those days we have to weave in and out through a sea of people. It's rare for us to have the track to ourselves.

So tomorrow's Armory meet is the first meet of my last track season. I don't expect great times, but I'm hoping for a good starting point for negotiations, and maybe even some good horror stories.

Senior Isaac Chambers was a member of the 4x800-meter relay teams that qualified for the IHSA Class A outdoor state finals in 2007 and 2008.