As most athletes know in any sport, the hardest part of the season may very well be staying fit in the off season.  The Topeka Wizards know this to be something that we try to avoid as a club.  To become a quality club one of the most important things to maintain and improve upon is fitness.  The work is hard and can sometimes get tedious, but the results on the field during game time is when it all pays off.

During this summer off season, the team has been meeting at McDonald Field on Thursday nights for drills and conditioning at 6:30 pm open to all.  Soon, Tuesday nights will also be added to the drill sessions.  Also some of the team is continuing to do the "Caveman" workouts at United Martial Sciences at 628 1/2 S Kansas Ave in Topeka on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well.  Even for those who haven't been able to attend these chances to keep in shape, some have been working out on their own...some have even have taken a more unique approach in training.

This summer, some of the members of TRFC have participated in non-rugby events to put their fitness levels to the test.  We are not talking about your typical 5k races or summer soft ball.  They have participated in some obstacle course style distance events.  These are run throughout the year, all over the country and some all over the world.  There is the Tough Mudder , The Dirty Duo and Warrior Dash , just to name a few.

So far some of the Wizards, past and present have participated in the Tough Mudder of Colorado and The Dirty Duo of KC.

Kris Ailslieger and Josh Norton participated in The Dirty Duo of KC this June.  Here is how it went down as told by Kris himself:

On Saturday, June 25, 2011, Josh Norton and I teamed up to compete in the Dirty Duo race at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.  This race is a unique biking and running event in which teams of two alternate running and biking for roughly six miles, changing disciplines at each mile marker after completing some type of obstacle.  At the end, both team members reunite to crawl to the finish line through an enormous 40 foot mud pit.  While the two of us didn't finish first, we were satisfied we didn't finish last either, especially considering we played in the rugby match against the British military personnel on Thursday and the two of us suffered injuries in the match.  We bounced back from the injuries and competed in The Dirty Duo less than 48 hours later.

On the same weekend Kris and Josh were participating in The Dirty Duo, two current Topeka Wizards and a former team member were taking part in the Tough Mudder of Colorado.  Ben Rufenacht, Cory Miller former team mate Bryan "Pudge" Waters fought through this 10-12 mile course with 24 obstacles and crossed the finish line.  Here are some views about the event from Pudge himself:

Sunday June 26th I participated in my first adventure race, it was the Tough Mudder Colorado.  I signed up knowing that it was most likely going to kick my ass but with some help of my teammates I would not be defeated. So what is a Tough Mudder you may ask it is typically a 10-12 mile course with around 24 obstacles ranging from climbing 12 foot walls, swimming in freezing cold water to even being electrocuted.  So I began training, but not nearly hard enough as I would soon realize.  Soon I had two former Rugby Teammates in Ben Rufenacht and Cory Miller, join me in deciding to take on the feat. Before I know it race day has arrived and I am walking up to the registration tent wearing the white #8 Topeka Rugby jersey and my Canterbury shorts looking around at the masses of people gathered preparing to conquer the mountain.

We have got a lot of late in the year snowfalls, and the water in the pond we would be swimming in was about 36 degrees that morning.  Once reminded of how badly this would suck, we listened to LeAnn Rimes rendition of the National Anthem then the final countdown and down the hill we went.

Heading down the ski slope trying to keep our feet wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Coming down the slope, as it leveled there were some small hay bales to hurdle and many people watching cheering us on.

It was somewhere between here and the first ascent that it hit me just what I was doing.  A little ways up the ascent was the next obstacle, they called it the “Cliff Hanger” basically they made a stretch of really muddy uphill terrain. It was then I became glad I had tied my shoes very tightly but wish I would have taped them down.

Pudge goes on the describe the names of some of the obstacles, such as "The Boa Constrictor", “Chernobyl Jacuzzi” and "Hold Your Wood."  Before crossing the finish line, Pudge figured they got hit with 10,000 volts of electricity at least 3 times!  They definitely earned their Tough Mudder orange headband.  (I will post Pudge's full blog in the news section for all to read.)

The Wizards are going to have many members of the squad participating in the Warrior Dash on July 30 and 31 in Kansas City.  There is still time to sign up.  This is another event that can put your fitness through the gauntlet to see if you have been doing what it takes to stay fit and ready when our first kick off to the fall season comes.  Keep working hard.  Keep it intense, fun and remember that there are many interesting ways to test yourself in the off season.

It was a great evening for rugby as the Topeka Wizards played a military team from the United Kingdom.  There was a good amount of action from both the Wizards and British, but the seasoned British came out on top 44 to 7.  Overall the TRFC was happy with the match, even though we came out on the losing end of things.  Excitement was felt around the pitch as both sides had some spirited and at times sloppy play, but ultimately the British were able to put together some great passing and rucking to come on out on top.  The British team did an excellent job of exploiting some gaps in the Wizards defense at times and their support in play was outstanding.  The Wizards struggled to get an offensive series going, but avoided be shut out by scoring our single try due to some heads up play by Kyle Brown.  Brown took an errant pass by the U.K. and grubbed it into the try zone to be ultimately scored by Topeka newcomer, T.J. McDonald for his Zulu.  Our British counterparts had some dazzling trys of their own as they were keeping up the pace and ramped up the scoring late into the match.  This effort was led by Major Will Norcott of the Royal Marines.  Major Norcott had scored the hat trick for the British military squad.

The Wizards are always looking for matches anytime, anywhere and this impromptu meeting will give TRFC some momentum with the off-season training and some direction on what we need to work on to improve as a squad.   We need to thank Jared Rudy and Jay Brewer for seeing things through to set this match up on extremely short notice and to thank our British allies for providing an opportunity to get on the field against a fine opponent.  We also want to thank the alumni who came out to play with the current TRFC squad.  Their leadership is always felt while on the field.  It was also a nice match to welcome back the Wizards team captain, Josh Norton.  He missed most of the spring due to injury and he was excited to finally get back on the field.  This game, was also an opportunity for some of our inexperienced players to get on the pitch to get some game time in before our fall season comes, in just a few short months.

The Man of the Match was Major Chris Price of the Royal Engineers, for he had an excellent game while he controlled the direction of the British attack.  The British also honored The Wizards Jon Cox with their vote for MVP.   Jon had an excellent night of kicking and running the ball, as well as making some nice stops in the back-line, even considering he was playing outside his normal position.  Jon is also the current place kicker for the Kansas Koyotes, so it was great that he was able to come out and play with the Wizards for this memorable game.

Fans of rugby came out in a big way and we appreciate the large crowd that got to enjoy the game.  We always love our fans and with the size of the crowd, it looks like we added a few more to the ranks.  There was also a large number of Topeka Rugby Alumni there to watch the match.  It's always an honor for the current team to be able to play in front of those who played before.  WIBW also was on hand to provide some media attention for the match with a nice report that you can view here: International Military Match-up

The post match celebration was a fun one as there was plenty of singing, eating and drinking for all.  The British Military was kind enough to present the Topeka Wizards with their team jersey signed by all who participated in the game from the U.K.  One of the members of the U.K. team commented to me that he was impressed by Speck's being our team clubhouse and how that was something rugby was moving away from in Britain.  Overall  people who enjoyed the festivities felt it was one of the finest post games parties in memory.

Again, it was a great night for Topeka Rugby and we hope to be able to host matches such as this in the future.  Due to the large crowd at the game, we would love to play an evening game again as well.  Thanks for all your support and we salute our British Allies who are more than just opponents on the field of sport.