Julia Webb-Harvey, 40, a counsellor from West Sussex, has toned up and reduced her blood pressure with the help of the health club's tracking tools and support from other members. A keen runner, she is married to Peter, who has two adult children from a previous relationship.

She says: “I haven't actually lost much weight, but my body shape has really changed. My legs are remarkably toned. I think my wobbly bits have been replaced by muscle! I'm a curvy size 14 and don't want to change that.

“My blood pressure was really high last year, but happily is normal now. All this running has had an immense impact.”

It was time to get back on track

“I was 40 at the beginning of the year and my celebrations were so lavish and indulgent. I had a big party and then my husband took me on the Orient Express. So around March I decided that I needed to get back on track with my fitness and signed up for a ten-mile run, which I did last Sunday. Around the same time, I spotted a Member of the Month feature for the Times Health Club and it fitted in so perfectly with what I was trying to achieve. I could map my goals using the graphs and get support. I love the blog space, in particular. If I put something in writing, it makes me much more committed to following through.

I love to run - it's just me and the road

My father died ten years ago and I did the 5km Race for Life shortly afterwards in his memory. That got me hooked on running. I'm a solitary jogger. I love the fact that it's just me and the road. I can trot along steadily for a couple of hours, allowing things to get sorted in my mind.

Tracking tools helped enormously

I started tracking my progress as soon as I joined in April. I made a note of the distance, time spent running and the effort I was making. I've now run 375km in total! I find the graphs really useful because they show me in an easily accessible way how many calories I've burnt while even just going on a short walk.

Support from other members is fantastic

The health club offers me a level of support in an amazing virtual world that I can't get anywhere else in my life. I was an occasional runner at the beginning of the year, 30 minutes or so a couple of times a week. I don't know any other runners, but the people within the Runnerbeans group have been fantastic in helping me to develop my programme. I was advised to build it up by no more than 10 per cent a week, doing one really long run and some shorter, slower runs, as well as interval training to build muscle density and strength.

They really have been an inspiration

I'm hugely inspired by other members, especially those from the Ab Fab group. There have been a few times when I really couldn't be bothered to go for a run, so I'd log on to the health club, start reading a few posts and be motivated to get my trainers on. I hurt my shoulder at the end of April when I fell down the stairs at home. I couldn't do anything. I got deeply frustrated, but my “virtual friends”, as I call them, were amazing again. They urged me to rest. My husband thinks the whole thing is really weird, but it keeps me going and helps me to stay totally focused.

I've also looked closely at my diet

I think my diet is pretty balanced. The Ab Fab group set a challenge to get more members eating their five recommended portions of fruit and veg a day. This was great in terms of raising my awareness of what I'm actually eating. Wine is one thing that is never off the menu, though. It's one of my husband's hobbies - we've got about 1,200 bottles in our cellar - not the sort of thing I can give up!

There's no stopping me now!

I did the ten-mile Great South Run in Southsea near Portsmouth, and finished in 1 hour 55 minutes. I was so nervous and seemed to be the only race virgin which made it even worse. I found it really hard to get into a rhythm, and was dying from the heat, but the sight of my husband at the six-mile mark spurred me on to the end! I'm definitely going to carry on with the running. I've already entered the British Open 10km run next summer.”

Julia ran in aid of Mosac, a charity that works with the parents of children who have been sexually abused. Rather than receive a prize for being Health Club member of the month, Julia asked Body&Soul to make a donation to the charity. If you would like to donate, visit www.justgiving.com/juliawebbharvey

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