Where are you compared to last year?

Jeconiah M " Its been 2 years since my son was born......and fatherhood has kept me away from the Dojo, my Martial Arts training and working on my fitness level, as a whole. TS and it's family members, has played a major role in keeping me motivated . I've since taken my running regime, to a different level. I'm now an endurance athlete as well. I've started this year with a bang.......by completing two Half Marathons, in the first two months. I'm fitter than I was, around this time last year. Its just the beginning. Thanks Tribesports ;) "

Dave H This time last year I was recovering from a displaced pelvis (oh the joys of coming off your bike lol), which meant had to withdraw from several races. I ran the inaugural Edinburgh Rock n Roll half marathon in April (against advice of chiropractor) which was my first half marathon, was great fun and finished in 2hrs 27min. Also completed my first marathon, The Wales Marathon in June at Tenby, had a great laugh despite injuring calf muscle after 18 miles and finishing a shade over 6hours lol. Never realised its regarded as 3rd hardest marathon in the UK! lol No more races after that due to relocation with work.
Start of March did first half marathon of 2013 in Llanelli, finishing in 2:32:07, which considering hadn't trained for was overjoyed with lol :)
Weight last year was 78kg and body fat of 19%, fast forward a year and weight is 72.8kg and body fat 16.4%.
Definitely feeling leaner, stronger and fitter, not just than last year but for many a year and determined to see how much further I can push myself :)

Joe T Last year I wasn't very active. I did some spin classes but that was about it. In the past year I started running. My longest training run was a 10k. I completed a duathlon. In September I rode 50 miles on the Elroy-Sparta bike trail while towing my 4 year old in a trailer.

Rita M Let's see. Last year on Jan. 1, I weighed 35 lbs. more, had never ridden a bicycle more than about 5 miles at a time (and now have done more than 31 miles in a ride), had never powered my way from one end of the country to the next country's border (1200 miles via biking, walking and jogging!), had never walked 22 miles in one day, had never run a solid two miles without walking (despite having run a 15k back in 2010--I walked/ran that), and certainly had never run for 22 minutes solid. :) I have never been healthier or more fit than I am now. :)

Amy I Last year 2011, I was not able to run do to extreme foot pain that the many doctors could not figure out. I put on weight because I could not run. In July of 2011, I was fed up with my weight and decided to do Insanity since I could not run. I also started counting my calorie and began being more aware of what I was eating. I started losing weight. In November, 2011, I had foot surgery. I was unable to exercise but still watched what I was eating. The beginning of this year, I went to physical therapy to get my toe to where it needed to be so I could run. This was very painful. It was 45 minutes of torture but I knew I would be able to run again so I put the pain out of my mind. My physical therapist had me start a running program. I was able to run the Capitol 5 Miler in May 2012. Since that time, I have not looked back. I have completed five half marathons, an Olympic Duathlon and five fun 5ks. I have lost 38 lbs and am in the best shape of my life. I have registered for my first marathon set for April 2013. The sky is the limit. Stay strong!!

Jim G For most of 2011 I was in the best condition and at the lowest weight I had been since the mid-1980s;healthy eating, many hours spent in the gym, some running and a heap of bicycle riding. In August of 2011, I completed a 3-day, 170 miles over 3 mountain passes, fund-raising ride. The hardest I ever worked at having fun!
But,this time last year I was recovering from an serious bicycle accident on October 8th (at 7:46 am, I remember it well), in which I fractured my L-3 vertebra (12 days in hospital, 8 days in-patient rehab & 6 weeks of 3x per physical therapy), In January, I started going for short walks and started going to Zumba. In March, I got back on my bicycle and on my 3rd ride, going home from Zumba, I was hit by a car; resulting in a fractured arm and fractured femur. I spent April and half of May in a wheel chair, several weeks using a walker and several more weeks with a cane.
July 21st ~ I walked a 5k in 55 minutes.
December 8th ~ I ran a Jingle Bell 5k in 36:04
Yesterday, December 23rd ~ I ran 10 miles, longest distance life-time, just for "fun".
Some of my goals for this year ~ run a half marathon before I turn 60 on May 31st, a marathon during this Summer and at least 1 Warrior Dash(a mud run). A high priority will be avoiding broken bones.
I am a blessed and thankful man!!

Brian F Last October I was very pleased to have recently ran my fastest 10K in many years in 51 mins,this year I ran the same race in 46.49! I have since brought my 10k time down to 44.06! I have also ran my first HM in over 10 years in 1:39:50, I had set a target time of 1:55:00!! I feel that I am not only much fitter, around 16lbs lighter, but also I am all-round healthier. I think my running reflects the general healthy balance I have in my life. To be running so well again is beyond my wildest dreams and I am so grateful for it...

Ian L This time last year i was probably in the same place as i am now slightly injured, but i was determined to make it a good year as was planning on running my first half marathon in march, well it didn"t go to the perfect plan my calf was only about 80% then went over on my ankle the week before but made the decision to run it anyway and got round in 2hrs 28secs. In july i was as fit as i have ever been and broke my 5 k p.b. twice in 5 days now its 24.36 mins from 26. 32mins the year before,. A friend then asked me to help her run her first half marathon and of course i said yes and we got round in 2hrs 12 mins a whole 8 mins quicker than expected, since then though i have had a problem on and off with my knee again, doc says its old age and wear and tear from me playing amatuer football for 12 years when i was younger, but hey i will get back to where i was in the summer because i have a 40 mile ULTRA to run in july then celebrate my 50th birthday in august.

Bridget C This time last year I had been in hospital for 2 mths trying to stop premature labour and gaining 1kg each week and unable to walk most of the time. Right now I am 20kg's lighter and fitter than I have ever been so far in my life. In between these 12mths my 3 top achievements have been - I had a healthy, beautiful baby; I started running on Nov 1st and am now running average of 30K/week; I am on track and confident that I will run a half marathon in early 2013. 100% honesty... in terms of how proud I felt of myself, running my first 10K and first 12.5K non-stop recently was a close 2nd to the pride in labour and delivery!!!

Ron W answered the question My update was cut off, so I'm afraid this is where it will be!

Justin B The (fitness) things I am most proud of this year are:
I ran a marathon in which I kept to my target pace, didn't hit any wall and in which the fastest kilometre was the last.
I ran a 40 mile ultra, kept it nearly to plan and finished exactly at my target time.
It no longer seems strange running 11 miles to work and then 11 miles home, it's just what I do.

Archie H answered the question My update was cut off, so I'm afraid this is where it will be!

Ryan B answered the question My update was cut off, so I'm afraid this is where it will be!

Cerise M I started running on 29 December 2011 with the Couch to 5k programme. Boy those first few weeks were hard. It starts you off by running for a minute, then walking for 90seconds. Those running minutes seem to last for far longer than the walking ones!
My first goal was to be able to complete the Auckland Round the Bays (8.4k) and hopefully run the whole way. I did manage to run it all without stopping - and it took a little over an hour. This was closely followed by a women's 5k event (Real Women), which I completed in about 33 minutes.
Since then, I've taken part in three 10k events, a 16k, and the Auckland Half Marathon ( in 2:07). I've also been attending Auckland Parkrun most Saturdays since August. I'm currently taking part in 'Marcothon' and running a minimum of 5k every day in December. I've run over 1300km since joining Tribesports earlier this year.
I've loved my first year of being 'a runner'. And I'll be back for more next year - I've already signed up for a couple of 10k series, the Stirling Sports Half Marathon in Feb, and will be doing Round the Bays in March again with my work team.

Alexandra F I think I am a little better than last year at this time. I belonged to a gym and had just started with a personal trainer. I didn't work on cardio so I am at the same level there which is not good. I finished with the personal trainer and my gym membership in August and didn't work out much for a few months because work was so busy but then I found Tribesports! I always like a challenge and although I am still working on the easier challenges here, I can squat and crunch longer and I am starting to use my stairs at home and my step for a wee bit of cardio. In the spring I may even try to jog!

Patrick D 2012 has been quite a rollercoaster, with ups and downs. However, my biggest ups were:
1) Switching from a sledge hockey player to sledge hockey goalie. This resulted in going to the world championships, and play in each match! The team even won their first game ever during a championship!

2) Kicking myself under the buttocks to finish my Bachelor's finally. Been struggling with finishing the final two courses for two years already, and now I'm happily working on a Master's degree.

3) Started working out, on top of only on-ice sledge hockey training. I've started rowing, which, at the time, seemed nice as a training method for hockey. However, I started to really like rowing, found a really supportive group to train with, and already did my first race. Finishing last has never felt that good - I ended up being 11 seconds faster than I expected based on training.

Emma C asked My update was cut off, so I'm afraid this is where it will be!

Brian K 1) Got stronger and improved my cardio and stamina.
2) Ran almost 7 miles for the first time. Prior to this I would only run 5Ks. Never thought I could do it. I felt good afterwards too.
3) Did 100 burpees in just over 9 minutes. When I did this, the last time I did them was about 3 yrs prior.

Ron W 2012 has been the worst year of my life. I'm not going to go into the details of that here. Somewhere along the way I 1) Quit smoking 2) Started running 3)Completed 2 real 5k's and 2 virtual 5k's. That kind of seems remarkable, but really it's symptomatic of taking a much greater control over my life, in ways that I can. It's about finding an outlet when there's no other thing that works. Compared to last year, I'm stronger, both mentally and physically.

Emma C My year has been more up and down than a yoyo. No jokes! The three best 'ups' have been:
Running my first (charity) 10k (and surviving to run again next summer, fingers crossed!)
Rowing over 1 million metres (old team-mates said I never could manage it, but I did it in

Archie H ** What a year. 3 biggest accomplishments:
1. Ran my first half marathon
2. Ran a marathon distance each week for 4 weeks
3. Moved into the top 200 in Tribesports. Started around 10,000

Helen T In rapid succession I ran my first 10ks and then my first hour of running and I actually came to like the burpee...when my health took a major nose dive, I kept up what I could and made major progress towards my first chin up, until my new career took off and I eased back on the training....soooo, top 3.....first ten k run, major progress towards a chin up and dancing Gangnam whilst running...hehehehehe

Jane H 1. I am most proud of the way in which in my daughters have developed and progressed this year. My eldest daughter has completed her first year of Arts/Law at the prestigious Melbourne University; my middle daughter graduated from High School and is now going on to study a Masters of Dietetics. I have endeavored to support them in everything they have set out to achieve this year, and be a positive role model in their lives.

2. I know my Dad would be proud of the way in which I have supported, loved and cared for my Mum, since he passed away in June. It has been an incredibly tough and sad year, sharing Dad's battle with cancer. I will be forever grateful that I was able to hold his hand as he departed.

3. In terms of fitness, I am most proud of running 2 half marathons this year, at the age of 44. I have dabbled in running, but up until this year, never really took it seriously. Running has been my haven, my solace, where I have been able to come to terms with the changes in my life.

Bring on 2013, with all its opportunities and promises :)

Jennifer J 1) Last year at this time I was very sick.. I had bronchitis and over the next month went on to develop pneumonia two times. This year I have fought off many colds/ illnesses quickly.
2) I was considered Obese last year at this time..I got fed up and in April started taking care of my health and have lost (as of today 12/21/2012) 71 pounds and am no longer considered obese.
3) My husband (tribesports member WayneB) also started taking care of his health this year and we have lost as a total 172 pounds together. This is something that I feel has dramatically improved not only our health, well being and self esteem but our relationship as well!

Punit T I was good looking,Less heavier n was doing more of the cardio last yr this time...bt in this yr
1. I have gained a lot of muscle mass, which is far too better n the thing that I wanted to do.
2. I have better physique.
3. I m running 5k this yr, while last yr I couldn't even think abt it...

Dina S my friends were teasing me cause i was fat during our high school days. when i got into college, i totally lost weight when i started to dance again. I stopped attending martial arts class but I began working out on a gym. After a month I entered the running world and was able to complete my first 10K marathon :)

Ryan B Last year at this time I probably weighed 185 pounds. I wasn't tracking yet, but I know Jan 1st I weighed 184. I got down to 145 and then started weight training so now I'm 155. My weight training has been great, I'm bench pressing and curling and doing all sorts of things I've never done before. My last achievement is running. I've never run before, but I've run several races and am able to run all around my town. Never could have done that last year.

Liz D in the past year i have gone from not being able to do a real push up to being able to do push ups and pull ups with ease! i have completed my first half marathon and jumped into cross training. :)

Meldrum M This challenge has me intrigued. Interesting to see some people just say where they are compared to last year while others give a bit more detail about what has perhaps held them back before.

I am one of the latter, I am now 22 but at 17 was in a pretty serious car accident that I was luck to walk away from. At the time I was finishing my final years of school and playing international age groups for my country. After the crash both my school work and exercise regime went out the window. I lost interest in everything, dropped out of the age group squads and nearly gave up field hockey. I had a half hearted attempt to get back to a high level of field hockey by changing clubs and got into University through the skin of my teeth but the problems lay much deeper than that.

After nearly dropping out of university, my old man sat me down and told me I had to make the most of what I had and like every little boy hearing that coming from your "Hero" you take notice. I bucked up my idea's, worked harder at University, joined a new club who had wanted me to sign for them since I was 14 and kept pushing myself forwards. Last year I took was the President on the University Men's side and this year have graduated with my degree and now captain the Men's firsts Indoor Field Hockey side. I can't say the journey is complete, but I am certainly much happier on this path than I have been before.

Sure something things get a bit too much, and I ask questions of myself, but reminding myself that I will only achieve what I want through hard work keeps me focused. I hope to challenge myself both physically and mentally for a long time to come, but for now I am glad to have things that keep me looking forward to another day :)

Baldy John - March 2011 I was seriosly overweight, not training suffering from depression an didn't care about life....I was alive (just) but not living. Was also a food junkie and coca cola addict.

Now I'm off coca cola, eating healthy, off depression medication since January and feeling great. Actually can see a future again and have even though about getting myself out again and in a relationship.......things that were far from me last year.

I'm training regular and have a goal to run a marathon and half ironman 2014.......I'm living again and am finding the person I used to be and gaining confidence. Life is about living and enjoying and I'm ready for it again......so that's massive for me and better than any PR

Keep smiling and live in the present :-)