user: Problem: This half of the season is a really long stretch, five races back to back and then a short break before the World Championships and Olympic test event, so it was really good to get some rest in at home while I could.
The Christmas break never seems long enough but I managed to get some good relaxation and family time in around training, which was much needed.
We left again for Europe on 31 December, which meant spending New Year's Eve in Munich with the team. The staff need not have had any worries about us athletes staying out late, I think we were all asleep well before midnight. Apparently the fireworks were good!
Last week the World Cup was in Altenberg, the track I won gold on last year, and because of that I had very high expectations of myself going into the week.
Altenberg has a reputation as the most technical course on the tour, and there is one particular corner called the 'Kreisel' which athletes find quite scary.
It's a full 360-degree corner with four big pressures and the potential to hit the roof in any that you don't steer just right. I'm no stranger to the roof myself, having crashed there more than once in my earlier years!
The other reason it's so challenging is it's not just a matter of navigating it safely, but the idea is also to generate speed as you go.
Because the Kreisel falls in the middle of the course, it's really important to carry as much speed from the top as you can through to the last few corners below it, so you have to try and do just enough to be safe without overdoing it and slowing yourself down too much.
As it happens, Kreisel went quite well for me but I made a mistake in an earlier corner on my first run that cost me some time. In the end I finished sixth which, considering the mistake, I was happy with.
I also managed to produce the two fastest pushes which gives me confidence that I'm in good shape as we get closer to the World Championships.
Recently the World Championships were moved from their original venue in Sochi, Russia, to Konigssee, Germany, following the publication of the second part of the McLaren report.
Historically, I haven't had my best results in Konigssee, but I trained well there last year and I feel I'm due some luck there. There's definitely an element of luck in our sport, with it being outdoors in winter, there's obviously the weather that can play a huge part.
In all three races of the season so far we have had snow during the runs, and in Lake Placid I unfortunately got the worst of it, but you just have to hope that at some point the luck will even out.
The snow has followed us here to Winterberg too where we have the next race on Sunday, which also doubles as the European Championships.
We arrived on Sunday and for the first training day I just watched other people slide, rather than sliding myself.
Sometimes I find that watching sleds come past and seeing the shapes the sleds make in the corners as they come past actually helps show me what is happening on the track and how the ice is behaving as much as if I was sliding.
With it being another race in Germany, the home team will be at a big advantage but I'm feeling good about the track and excited to race here.
This track has a very different personality to Altenberg. It is much more subtle, and starts slowly, but then the speed sneaks up on you in the last few corners and you can be doing around 130kph before you know it!
What was that article about?

A: I'm back on tour again after a short Christmas break, heading into World Cup number four in Winterberg, Germany.


The Welsh Government will decide soon whether to guarantee half the cost of the Circuit of Wales, after rejecting a plan to underwrite 80% of it.
At first it said the 80% figure was proposed by the project's developers, but now admits it had been under discussion for some time prior to that.
Plaid Cymru has called for an investigation and an apology.
The overall cost of the Ebbw Vale circuit is about £425m and the developers are asking the Welsh Government to guarantee around £210m.
The earlier proposal to help underwrite 80% of the total cost with public money was rejected last year.
In a written answer to Plaid AM Adam Price, the Welsh Government said this idea was first set out by the Heads of the Valleys Development Company - the firm behind the circuit - on 15 April 2016.
But an email obtained by Plaid Cymru showed a senior civil servant wrote to the company on 7 April, saying the first minister's office had approved discussions about a "Plan B", based on this guarantee.
Mr Price called for an "an immediate investigation into the misleading answers with the first minister taking direct responsibility for this project and apologise for the many mistakes that have been made".
The Welsh Government said: "Various face-to-face, phone and email discussions on the risks and legalities of the project took place over a number of months prior to this date [15 April] between officials, other key organisations including the Heads of the Valleys Development Company and their advisors.
"The level of guarantee would have been part of those discussions."
Mr Price has already called for an investigation into how the Welsh Government responded to a damning report by the Wales Audit Office about funding.

Sum: Ministers have been accused of giving misleading answers about negotiations to build a race track in Blaenau Gwent.


Q: It means the disease is not thought to be a significant public health threat to countries outside of those affected in West Africa.
A small cluster of cases are still occurring in Guinea, but Sierra Leone and Liberia have not had any in months.
But experts say countries must remain vigilant for new flare ups of Ebola.
There have been 12 of these to date - the most recent on 17 March in Guinea. The WHO says countries have been able to react to these clusters quickly to contain them.
And all original chains of Ebola transmission have ended in the three West African countries that were plagued by the disease.
Ebola is spread by close physical contact. The virus is carried in bodily fluids - blood, vomit and saliva - which means people who care for the sick are vulnerable to catching the infection.
It has also been detected in the semen of male survivors, and the WHO says national and international efforts must be intensified to ensure such men can have their semen checked to know if they might still be able to spread the infection.
And work must continue on the use of Ebola vaccination for intimate and close contacts of those survivors who still carry the virus, says the WHO.
But there should be no restrictions on travel and trade with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - any such measures should be lifted immediately, it says.

A: Ebola is no longer an "extraordinary health event" and the risk of the virus spreading is low, the World Health Organization says.


Text: Their study,in the Journal of Breath Research, investigated using it to help convert stem cells from human teeth into liver cells.
The scientists claimed the gas increased the purity of the stem cells.
Small amounts of hydrogen sulphide are made by the body.
It is also produced by bacteria and is toxic in large quantities.
A group in China has already reported using the gasto enhance the survival of mesenchymal stem cellstaken from the bone marrow of rats.
Researchers at the Nippon Dental University were investigating stem cells from dental pulp - the bit in the middle of the tooth.
They said using the gas increased the proportion of stem cells which were converted to liver cells when used alongside other chemicals. The idea is that liver cells produced from stem cells could be used to repair the organ if it was damaged.
Dr Ken Yaegaki, from Nippon Dental University in Japan, said: "High purity means there are less 'wrong cells' that are being differentiated to other tissues, or remaining as stem cells."
One of the concerns with dental pulp as a source of stem cells is the number that can be harvested.
However, the study did not say how many cells were actually produced.
Prof Chris Mason, a specialist in regenerative medicine at University College London, said: "It would be interesting to see how hydrogen sulphide works with other cells types."
summary:

assistant: Hydrogen sulphide, the gas famed for generating the stench in stink bombs, flatulence and bad breath, has been harnessed by stem cell researchers in Japan.