Jerry Smartt’s wise use of shopping cart and tire on snowy day

Jerry Smartt, the Soviet-USA distancer of the 1950s, is now on the cusp of turning 80. And he’s still putting the hammer down (if not the sickle) near his home in Warsaw, Missouri. He shared some shots of his creative way of training in scary cold weather. (This one is the best.) Find a parking lot. Grab a cart or two. Stick a heavy tire in it. Push, push, push. And by the time it’s 95 degrees in Sacramento, reap the benefits.

Jerry gets his strength work while pretending to shuttle a shopping cart.

Jerry writes:

I load the carts with a heavy ATV tire and I get some good resistance training out of it. Some of it is uphill. At other times, I tie the tire around my waist with an 8-foot rope and drag it on the run while doing repeat 110s or 220s. This parking lot has the safest area for training when we have terrible weather. The roads are clear but the shoulders are piled high with snow. “Gee, Smartty, you sure know how to have fun.” Yeah, still crazy after all these years.”

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February 12, 2011

11 Responses

  1. Liz Palmer - February 12, 2011

    I have a “track crush” on Jerry Smartt.

  2. Gary - February 12, 2011

    Sometimes you have to find creative ways to work out! Hey, he is saving a fortune on a gym membership and probably getting just a good of a workout!

  3. Lesley Richardson - February 12, 2011

    Very innovative, well done and good luck with your training Jerry.

  4. Jerry Smartt - February 12, 2011

    “I’m back on the highways again, back where a friend is a friend. Where good ol’ boys abound, sometimes a friendly hound, I’m back on the highways again.” A big thank you to Gene Autry’s heirs for NOT giving me permission to paraphrase, and wreck, his famous ‘Back In the Saddle Again’ from the 1940s. No more Wal-Mart training for a while. FYI kids, I’ve discovered that if I have a gimpy calf/knee, if I do some slow jogging with a shopping cart I can get in some training and take the pressure off the affected area. It may just be mental, because I don’t have a serious bone in my brain, but it works for me. Smartty

  5. Milt Girouard - February 12, 2011

    Awesome Idea!!!

  6. Ruthlyn Greenfield-Webster, RN - February 12, 2011

    Where’s the “Like” button for Liz’s comment? рџ™‚

  7. Fidel - February 12, 2011

    Nice shirt. I have one just like it…:-)

  8. Jerry Smartt - February 13, 2011

    Happy Valentine’s Day Liz and Ruthlyn.(^_^)Smartty

  9. John Altendorf - February 13, 2011

    Smartty… you never fail to bring a smile to my face. Keep it up young man.

  10. Don Pratt - February 14, 2011

    Jerry knows how to do it. He will keep in shape even with the heavy snow in Missouri. I know that
    he’s in shape because I always run behind him in the USATF and the WMA.

  11. Jerry Smartt - February 15, 2011

    That’s a neat compliment from Don Pratt. He and I have tangled at races for years. Don would have made a great postman because he trains and races in all kinds of weather. He’s a modern-day Bionic man with a chest pacemaker and one artificial vocal cord. Say what? yeah, you’re right. he’s one of the crazies.

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