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

THIS weekend was completely taken up competing; yes, pentathlon is supposed to be a one day affair but the British selection series are spread over two; however, I can't complain as there was a big plus being able to stay in my own bed and starting at a civilized hour both mornings.

I was actually excited to be staying in on Saturday night — now this isn't because I'm a crazy party girl and out all the time, on the contrary, I'm often in and trying to watch iplayer or DVDs on my laptop — this weekend was different, I now have a working television just over a year after I moved into my flat. I employed some professional help and discovered it was a dodgy aerial conn-ection, so I had an enjoyable weekend with plenty of recovery between my events on my sofa.

I can't believe it's December already! It's certainly beginning to feel festive at last and this cold weather is helping. I may curse the cold when it comes to training outdoors but I do love an excuse to bring out the winter woollies and have a hot chocolate. The Christmas market in Bath is always worth attending to really get you in the festive spirit, as is Tavistock's Dickensian evening, which I missed the last couple of years. The Bath market does seem to attract people from afar and the city is now a little hectic for doing any shopping. I was happy to have my sister to stay for a few days and hopefully a few more visitors still to come.

I have enjoyed a rush of public speaking opport-unities in the South West. I am asked what I talk about; now anyone who knows me knows that I don't have a problem talking but hopefully now I'm managing quality as well as quantity. My next challenge outside of training is similar but I cannot disclose more yet so you'll just have to read a few more of my columns!