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

IT has been a while, but I don't think it is just me who has been a little out of routine because of the festive period. I know a few people who long for the structure of the normal working week - I am not one of them but that could be because I am yet to experience that phenomenon.

Every Christmas holiday when I have eaten too much, the weather is depressing and it seemingly never gets light outside, I announce that next year I will most definitely either be ski-ing or sunning myself in some foreign country. I have been lucky enough to do this a couple of times but for various reasons it hasn't happened recently. There are the obvious limiting factors such as training commitments and the bank balance that affect my choices but I have realised there must be a stronger underlying reason.

After being back for over two weeks and not even leaving Devon (sorry I fib, I did nip over the Tamar just once) I have realised that nothing beats home. Whether it is home cooked food, your own bed, being welcomed by the dogs in the morning, or sitting by the fire in the evening, these are all the wonderful things that we just take for granted.

Not surprisingly most of my friends must feel the same pull and as a result all flock back to Devon from various parts of the country and world. As much as I long for some vitamin D and the sight of blue sky this time of year is all about seeing friends and family, the weather just gives us something else to talk about.

Times readers can be updated on what Heather is up to via?her social networking site twitter:heatherfellnews