Training the Stotan Way: Suffering in Silence

The planned post on Cerutty and marathon training will be delayed by a few days. As I was about to begin my weight workout today I thought it would be nice to put on a little Marley (as in Bob) while I was lifting. I never listen to music while working out but I was having trouble getting motivated, it felt like it was a hundred degrees in my garage. A thought then came into my head, what would Cerutty do?  Well, if you've read anything by Perc (as he was often referred to), you'd know that there would be no music. Although a great lover of music, Cerutty believed there was a time and place for everything.
All this got me to thinking. We are always surrounded by some kind of noise most of our waking day. Think about it, talking, music, cars, TV, phones, etc.,etc. The mind needs a reprieve and rest from all this 'noise.' We need time to be alone with our thoughts, to think and consider. When I lift in silence, I find myself thinking about the workout, am I maintaining proper form, stuff like that. When I'm out on a long run I think of and ponder a wide range of things. I think back to what Dr. George Sheehan once said, "I do my best thinking when I'm out on a long run."
No 'noise' helps us to focus on the task at hand. If our goal is optimal fitness and/or performance, we deserve to give all our attention to the task at hand.
Stotan up!
As a treat, the link below will take you to poetry in motion--22 seconds of Herb Elliott destroying the field, in silence, at the 1960 Olympic 1500 meter final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HEI0icuIG0