Heather Fell, Olympic modern pentathlete silver medalist, writes about her life 'on and off' the track.

I can't believe it; the Indian summer I'd been sure would arrive ended the day I got home! Luckily I stopped in Exeter for a bit of sunshine on my way as by the time I was half way across Dartmoor it was still warm but in thick fog. That will teach me for bragging about being in sunny Gibraltar — as although the weather was pleasant it sounds like it was even more delightful back here. I think this is it now and it's a race to see which fades the quickest, my mosquito bites or my tan.

After the busy first half of my break I was looking forward to being in one place for a week, however it wasn't quite so. In less than five days I was in Gibraltar, Ceuta (Spanish territory in North Africa), Morocco and Spain, but it was in a very relaxed manner as all by sailing boat! Not wanting to 'waste' my break I enrolled on a 'competent crew' sailing course and headed out alone, but with a friend in Gibraltar to visit as well. I met my fellow sailors and the instructor for the first time on Sunday night and we certainly were a diverse bunch; an Olympic high jumper, an Irish girl fluent in Gaelic, a laid back Ozzie and two Arabs! Living in such a confined space for a whole week anything could have happened but I couldn't have asked for a better group of people, it was a brilliant holiday.

Being back on Dartmoor couldn't be a further contrast from Gibraltar. The fact that most of the country is one huge steep sided limestone rock populated by apes limits the space for the ever growing population, they have been forced to keep building on reclaimed land and there are literally two areas with grass, both privately owned. I attempted to start my training while out there but as you can imagine running was a little dull, we really are spoilt in the Westcountry.