I have been hearing continuous reports of the abundance of snow in the Alps so I was a little surprised to arrive in the French Pyrenees to find none. I've been on winter training camps in Font Romeu many times and never have I seen it so brown this time of year. The downhill pistes have been kept open with lots of artificial snow but with just grass and woodland in between it doesn't look right. What makes it even stranger is that I hear there have been white flurries spreading across the UK the last few days.

However it is amazing what twenty-four hours of constant snow can do and now the mountains have been transformed, gleaming white against beautiful pure blue skies. The only problem being the coach has decided he wants us to run not x-country ski so I think he might need to get the broom out and start sweeping the running track.

After the final British selection competition last weekend the results of all three (including two in December) were calculated to make the first ranking list of the year. These competitions may seem insignificant but a decent result through out them is essential in order to get a world cup start at the beginning of the international season. I was delighted to find out that I have been selected for the first two world cups, not only are they very important they are also in America; the first one in USA followed by the second one a week later in Brazil. I am certainly looking forward to some sunshine of the warmer non-skiing type.

It may not be the southern hemisphere or the Alps but I am spending the next two weeks in the French Pyrenees. No surprises that this isn't a holiday, but a change of scenery at this time of year will certainly make a difference to our training. The aim of the camp is to increase aerobic fitness so there will be plenty of swimming and running with the added variety of cross country skiing, which is made harder by the effect of altitude. I always struggle with the concept of cross country skiing, why put in effort to plod uphill when there are chair lifts passing overhead, then when you arrive at the top the long skinny skis are impossible to control enough to get to any decent downhill speed.

The two weeks away from home will come as a welcome break from the media. This last week I have had an interview of some sort on five separate days, 2012 has certainly arrived and the press are getting excited already. By far the most enjoyable of these five also involved a very glamorous photo shoot. It did involve a quick trip to London but it isn't everyday I get the chance to pose for Vogue magazine wearing a designer gown with so much taffeta I needed assistance to move. It was also a great opportunity to catch up with some Olympic athletes from other sports, as it's only times like these that our paths cross.

Sunday saw my presenting debut on BBC West for the Olympic dreams programme. This could only be viewed in the west region so I have escaped feedback from home, which could be a godsend, but I did force myself to watch it through my fingers. I had such a great time filming it and I was extremely grateful to my co presenter who was incredible patient with me. It may have pushed me out of my comfort zone but fingers crossed it wasn't the last.

I am often asked about my 'glamorous' life and what exotic country I'm off to next, well right now it seems everyone else is abroad whilst I'm the one at home training hard. I don't blame anyone escaping the January blues but I am a little envious of most of the other summer Olympic sports away on warm weather training camps in the southern hemisphere. However it isn't just my athlete friends who have escaped the British climate; my parents are currently skiing, my sister is soon to go and a large percentage of my friends have either been or are about to head out to the slopes.

There was no chance of hiding those extra calories consumed over the festive period this week when the dreaded skin fold callipers (to measure body fat) were dusted off. I feared the worse but it was a pleasant surprise when the results were calculated to show that I have somehow turned the excess into more muscle. Now I'm awaiting my blood test results - which I'm feeling more confident for - as two weeks of wholesome home cooked food should have fulfilled all my nutritional needs.

With both the recent bank holidays falling on weekends I had a healthy break from competing, but not for long. This Sunday saw my second cross-country race of the year with a trip up to Cardiff to represent the South West for my first time (and hopefully not the last!). I was incredibly honoured to be selected but got a little worried when stood on the start line next to several girls in England vests, unsurprisingly they were soon out of my sight.