Chilling out is over now that the cold weather’s arrived

It's not that I'm a boxing fan but I wanted to see this one as it was all-British, I'd met both of them before and there had been quite a lot of pre-fight hype.

My house was in desperate need of cleaning and I got carried away. By the time I turned on the TV I'd missed the fight although it doesn't seem like I missed that much by all accounts.

My coach is in the process of setting up boxing training to get me and the rest of our group fit for next season. I've had a go on a punchbag before — we have one where I train — but a minute on that is really, really harsh so it makes you realise how incredibly fit those guys are.

A lot of people think that as athletes at this time of the year we're on holiday or we're chilling out'. I remember after the Beijing Olympics, many expressed incredulity that I was heading back to training in the winter.

If anything, this is the hardest part of the year. It'd be nice if we could just turn up in the summer and run fast but the tough stuff in the winter is what makes your season.

As odd as it sounds, this is actually the fun part as you can be really creative with the things that you do. I've not done anything crazy but the boxing's one plan and I'm also hoping to do some African dancing classes with a friend. It all helps in getting fit.

The quad injury that forced me out of last month's Commonwealth Games has nearly cleared up. It's still something that we need to keep an eye on — it was a big tear — but it has pretty much healed.

Cold is probably the best way to describe conditions in training. I know I complain about the weather but I love staying at home to train at this point in the year — there's something about the cold that just spurs you on.

Having said that, some time after Christmas I'm going to escape the cold to train in Jamaica.

I went last pre-season to work with Usain Bolt and his group. I really enjoyed it and, thankfully, they're happy to welcome me back.

Having a change of environment and seeing how different people train — especially him — is seriously beneficial.

Until then, I'm keeping my head down and not really going out. I've done a few events, including an adidas one with Kevin Pietersen called adiStars, which is aimed at getting kids to participate in sport. He's really lovely, actually, and very good at table tennis, as I found out to my detriment. I thought I was all right but he made me look pretty awful. The guy's good.

Going back to the Games, I didn't watch much of it because I decided to pack up and go to visit some friends in America. I went to Washington and Virginia. I saw the White House and took photos of other famous monuments, the names of which escape me!

Last year I went to New York and then Egypt and that was a bit more of a mad time. This time around, it was a lot more chilled out — just what was needed.

Since then, it has just been training. It has been going well, although there are times when it gets boring.

I've already got a rough idea about when my season will start. I'm not training with the indoor season in mind but I might do a couple of indoor events and I have a rough idea about when my outdoor season will begin. It's too premature to say when that will be but I'll be ready.