Bastards Bank

Yesterday my intervals were best left unmentioned to be honest... we had a power cut after only my first interval and that was me done. I tried the UK Gear shoes and they weren't for me as they changed my gait too much, so maybe the power cut was a blessing in disguise. I have to say I felt very lazy and untrained for the rest of the evening and was a bit miffed about the whole thing.

Today I decided to make up for this by running a route I haven't done since I was a teenager (and at the time was training to get fit before joining the Royal Navy). It is through Castle Eden Dene and although I couldn't properly remember the route, what I did remember was a particular feature.... Bastards Bank. Since being at school, everyone I knew referred to this hill with that terminology, simply because it was a 'bastard' to get up!

At first I ran through the Dene and it immediately felt tough, running down steep inclines and across rooted trails. Before I knew it I was at the bottom of said bank. It didn't look as bad as I remembered and I started to run up it. The bank sort of goes up and then twists about 300 degrees back on itself as it goes further up again... and then it goes on and on (or so it seemed). About 3/4 of the way up here I began to walk. This is the furthest I have ever ran this before walking so I was rather pleased. I ran on further up the trail and then ended up having an 8 minute walk break as I tried to work out where I was. I had no clue, took another pathway and when I realised where I was I began to run again.

On the way back, coming back down Bastards Bank was one of the scariest things I've ever done. I've heard about "falling into the descent" and letting the hill take you... NO WAY, I was crapping myself as my quads braked with all they had in them. I was relieved to get to the bottom.

So, it was an abysmal 12 minute miling but once I knew where I was going I really loved it. I am going to tackle this every Wednesday until the nights are too dark to contemplate it. Who knows, after a few weeks, maybe I won't need to walk at all...and that WILL be a huge achievement, because when I got back I found out on my Garmin that the bank was 400 feet ascent in about quarter of a mile!