On my part, I'll have to admit that training over the Christmas break hasn't gone quite as well as I might have liked! Whilst I do think skiing might have been good for my leg strength, the schokorum (rum and hot chocolate) I lived on all week definitely counteracted any benefits...

I even tried running up a mountain in the hope that I could get a cross training session in - but running on snow proved more challenging than I'd thought, so defeated, I returned to the hotel's relaxation pool.

Indoor training has been the recent theme for me, since I draw the line at cycling through floods. Also I have oncoming exams this week and next week, and riding your bike all day is not recommended in the interests of passing exams.

The hardest part of indoor training, for me, is sometimes the feeling I'm being watched in the gym, but I was allowed access to the man cave (bike training room) at home, so nobody was judging me for the faces I was pulling! I find the short sharp intervals the hardest because I have never trained for bursts of speed/ max power output before. I'm thinking it'll be useful when trying to get to feed stations as fast as possible!

However, indoor training does make me really miss being outdoors, and I've got lots of new cycling kit for Christmas that I am itching to try out when exams are over! I also decided to spice up winter riding by mountain biking... Even though I had no technique to speak of, it was pretty fun even in the rain. I won't be buying a mountain bike of my own any time soon though!

Read more about indoor training here, or see what one of British Cycling’s experts says about comparing indoor to outdoor training here.