Welcome to the TracyW 's report back. Time-to-Run's first project member. Follow her trials and tribulations through the Forums and get involved with your own development through TracyW's commitment.

This is TracyW's fourth report back - TheEd

It almost feels like a lifetime away since I wrote my last report, so many things have happend.

After the high of completing the 5k, things seemed to spiral out of control. As you might know from the previous reports I had a brief rest after the 5k and then started on the 8k programme. Disaster then struck, we had a friend from South Africa living with us at the time and he was involved in a terrible car crash. We had the arduous task of having to phone his parents with the news - something I never want to have to do again.

We spent two full days and nights at the hospital at his bedside until his mother arrived. I have never in my life felt so drained and exhausted. The following three weeks were pretty much a haze. Work, hospital and home to try and assemble a decent dinner before falling into bed. Luckily he pulled through the brain injury and is one very lucky young man.

Once they returned to SA we expected life to just fall back into place, butlife is never so simple. I developed a really bad cold again which knocked me out for 3 weeks. We also had stress at home, I was totally unaware that for my partner to be back at the hospital brought back the bad memories from December and January when he was at his mothers bedside day and night while she was dying from cancer. We then had to deal with that.

By this stage I had not run for ages and was starting to worry that I was not followng the programme and that I was not able to post reports for the website, I was putting myself under undue pressure. The team were great and told me to take as much time as I needed and to ease back into things at a comfortable pace.

Things are now on the up again, thankfully. I have been going out and doing very light easy runs and thoroughly enjoying them. I also finally did something I should have done years ago and consulted a nutrisionist. I have always battled with my weight and while I have lost a substantial amount about 10 years ago, I have never been able to get below where I am now. I know that I have a slow metabolisim but the frustration of cutting out certain things and never losing weight was very frustrating. I now have a really good idea of what affects my body and why it does and have been following her suggestions and plans for 2 weeks now and feel so much better for it. That tired bloated feeling I have always felt has gone and on a day to day basis things are improving every day. I was apprehensive when told I have a gluton and wheat intolerance because I love my bread so much, but there are so many products available without these ingrediants that I do not feel like I am having to deprive myself of anything. If I do happen to eat something with wheat I can feel the effect immediatly. I am eating a lot more vegetables, salad and fruit than before and it can only do the body good. A bit late in life to wake up to the fact we always follow the latest fad diets but it is best to consult someone who has studied the subject and can assess you as an individual.

During all this one thing has been going through my mind and that is how much I now admire dedicated athletes/ sports people. If for me as a beginner runner, things have been so tough, how they manage to perform against all odds is well and truly admiring.