Cloister

clois·ter (kloi'st?r)
n.

1. A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that face a quadrangle.
2. 
   
1. A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion.
2. Life in a monastery or convent.
3. A secluded, quiet place.

tr.v., -tered, -ter·ing, -ters.

1. To shut away from the world in or as if in a cloister; seclude.
2. To furnish (a building) with a cloister.

I think it would be nice to run along a covered walk as described above. A lovely solitary place where you can run all by yourself with just the sounds of your footsteps crunching under the gravel beneath you. Preferably a place that has long been abandoned, kind of like how the South Bronx used to be in the late 70’s early 80’s.

Many times while training I have been in secluded and quiet places. Other times it has been loud and noisy like when riding over the Manhattan Bridge. I think the best runs are those where you feel shut away from the world and don’t sense anyone or anything around you. Those are the times when training becomes effortless and immensely enjoyable.

Lately though I haven’t felt like training alone. It gets tiring being on your own after a while and you begin to long for company. Undoubtedly that is why there are so many running and triathlon clubs. Tonight though I think I am ready to just go out on my own and see what happens. Maybe I’ll get that runners high and stay out for longer than I am scheduled. Maybe I’ll run the out of the way trails in Prospect Park to give myself that cloistered feeling. I’ve never really done this because I hold myself slave to running the familiar courses with their measured distances. Kind of like my friend Todd who not only runs the same course day after day, but never ever ventures to run in the opposite direction.

Some exercise this evening will be just what the doctor ordered. I was in an all day meeting and my ass is absolutely killing me from sitting on it all day. These all day meetings can be quite painful especially if you’re starting to get gas. I hate being locked in a room when it would be uncouth to let a fart rip. It starts to back up and the pressure can become quite intense. Then when you finally have a break it gets all locked up and you can’t pass it for anything. But enough of that, you aren’t here to read about my bowel issues are you?

I wonder what this blogger would have to say about the pain my rear is feeling from sitting all day. I stumbled upon this blog by clicking through to other blogs starting from a comment someone left on mine. I imagine that sitting through an all day meeting might just be something of a fantasy situation.