Arriving at Oh-Dark-Thirty on the hard asphalt of Bastille, 34 PAX joined in spirit with other weary travelers across the nation and world to take on a Workout Of The Day known as the “DEA Maltz Challenge.”
I hope you”ll indulge YHC some background.
Long before F3 was ever an F1-twinkle in our founders” eyes, Mike Maltz was a Pararescueman in the US Air Force. Born in upstate New York to a family of cops and firefighters, he joined the Air Force out of high school and, finding everything else to be too damn slow for his over-turnt inner motor, ended up in Pararescue, also known by the nickname as a ”PJ”. Even in that career, where overheated testesterone and wanna-be tough guys fill the landscape, Maltz could outwork, out-train and out-cuss anybody in his way. Like all elite warriors, he knew every dirty trick, every regulation, every rule in the book and how to break each without getting caught.
As an instructor at the Pararescue selection school in the 1990s, Maltz was a legendary terror: there were the times he would hide on the roof of dorm buildings to catch trainees walking when they should be running, rappel to the sidewalk in a full rage and send them to the mudpit for punishment; or the time he was tearing apart lockers on a dorm ”inspection” and found in one a picture of a trainee”s wife and a Pararescue recruiting pamphlet – a pamphlet which, by coincidence, used a picture of Maltz on the cover. Glaring at the terrified wanna-be kid, he slipped the pamphlet into the frame, covering the picture. With an evil grin, he said, “You put Maltzy ahead of wifey!” and stormed out.
That was Mike Maltz, a legend, and by good luck, a friend of YHC. Starting in 2000, I was a brand new PJ assigned to the team at Moody AFB, near Valdosta, GA, on which Maltz was a senior NCO. He scared the shit out of me, right up until I met him. As fierce as his reputation was, that”s how loyal, generous and open he was as a friend and teammate, even to the most junior guys on the team.
Mike was set to retire just after 9/11, but pulled his retirement papers so he could deploy as part of the initial fight with the Taliban. On March 23, 2003, on a rescue mission to get two Afghan children from a field hospital, his helicopter crashed into a mountain, killing all 6 aboard.
For the last 11 years, the DEA office in Denver has led a workout called the Maltz Challenge. This year, participants included the US embassy in Rome, a DEA outpost in Columbia, fire and police dept across the country, the Cleveland Browns (maybe we should leave that one off…), many crossfit-style gyms and, in our first go at it, F3!
(Also participating, we discovered afterwards, or at least aware of the event, was the son of our own F3 Homes, a senior at the Air Force Academy).
Info on the event, the “true” Maltz WOD and some background and pics of Mike is here. http://secure-web.cisco.com/1kxkIKKj5_wafAp2q28veQMrnxPTeuDJDj2lNdZfcVdGR5y7M1atujHhPka_hbmTP1HCVZNFwukZjn3lhmd23d35ziYlbnGUzsvcwIImpUfONH0vbkdQSryupFPqiXH8Qst7OGdl73MU9fH6BB5QqyKQKreiXbfzcaYomuE-LAIhr7wwiuTuIs6XdaPWeaIiP6NvS41MMuuFtXNnjzMBdINzz-7ukVgEai_mM_2UMNxKVtqlq-zK7Oepme1IaQpd1-QEmonl2zr0qA8yA-LZXZxUCR_RnwKzfvSL5mBA5RzMfdIm0HKdqSSpe0t3tz7TUpU5cMQUsVHeywUy6ec5PHX4AmV1meRKTyvjR1MRNg68M9w9rdpXoyOKrrdcViCajlk763ePxirmSIruxjKKtQA/http%3A%2F%2Fdeamaltzchallenge.com%2F
And now, as Maltzy might say, “hey Sticky- enough flappin” your f—–” jibbs. How about you shut your f—–” c—holster and get to the Thang”. Roger that, Sarge
Warm Up, in cadence
Merkins X 10
IW X 25
Arm Circles & Reverse
Squats X 10
200 meter warm-up jog as a group
The Thang
400M sprint
– move to covered garage, all OYO
Pull ups X 25 (individual or 2-man teams)
Fireman”s or Buddy carry X 100M (alternate = lunge)
– move to street, all IC
Dips X 25
Merkins X 25
Dips X 15
Merkins X25
– move to grass field, IC
50 Deep Squats: NOT “Knees to Elbows” – Q ERROR ALERT! The Maltz Challenge calls for “50 Knees to Elbows” which YHC misidentified as a deep squat. In fact, k2e is a double-leg raise from a dead-hang on a pull-up bar, lifting knees to elbows. much harder. (you”re welcome)
25X2 Gym Class Sit-ups, switching with partner (partner holds feet)
*REPEAT!*
– move to covered garage: Pull ups X 25 (individual or 2-man teams)
Fireman”s or Buddy carry X 100M (alternate = lunge)
– move to street
Merkins X 25
Dips X 15
Merkins X 25
400 M Sprint Home
MARY:
Outa time.
If you”re keeping close track against the “true” prescribed WOD, F3”s output came in at double the required buddy carry (200m vs 100m) and 5 more dips, but, due to time, was 50 sit-ups short of the prescribed 100 (plus the K2E thing)
COT:
– sign up for The Bull, 4/1/7. Current roster very heavy on Durham Guys.
– Need 6 more for Team 2 in Blue Ridge Relay.
– March 23: 2ndF (Fellowship beers) being planned at Yesteryear Brewery, Carrboro, for every 4th Thursday going forward. The owner, Dave Larsen – who some from the Thicket may know as a realtor in Briar Chapel – lost his son to depression and suicide recently. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/chapel-hill-news/article137429788.html
Our hope is to support Larson and his business with outreach.
Man, Bastille is just full of uplifting stories today. Maybe resolve to take today”s final lesson from my friend Mike Maltz – live your life and give back to others as hard as you can.
Until we meet again!
Stick