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

THE party season is upon us, or is that supposed to be the festive season? Either way it represents the time to get a little merry and the excuse to socialise that bit more than the other months of the year.

I have just been to my first Christmas party but the dress code was little different to what one expects; this wasn't an occasion for a sparkly party frock instead it was about comfort.

All guests were strictly told to dig out a Christmas jumper — if Colin Firth and Bridget Jones Diary springs to mind you wouldn't be far off — is that a sign of the age my friends and I are reaching?

I have been aware at my lack of cross-country races but I haven't been hiding from competitions and this weekend was no exception.

It was the first of our modern pentathlon selection series, which is frustratingly spread over both days.

My events were looking like finishing early on Sunday as after a satisfactory result I was the first competitor into the riding arena and therefore first to head home.

That was until a visit from the UK Sport anti-doping agency, however at least this meant I was completely hydrated before heading out to the party.

After the sporting year Great Britain has just witnessed it is going to be a tough call between so many Olympic Champions for the Sports Personality of the Year award.

I had the pleasure of attending the Sport Journalist Awards last week, which regularly pre-empt the winner of the BBC's trophy. Being a separate male and female category this year it was no surprise that Jess Ennis and Bradley Wiggins came out top, so it will be interesting to see how the public vote on Sunday for just the one winner.