Pre

This weekend Rich and I drove to Eugene, Oregon with the specific purpose of running Pre's Trail. Steve Prefontaine, the legend of the running world, never did get to use these trails, which were created in his memory shortly after his fatal car crash in 1975. He had lobbied for such a space, but it didn't happen while he was around to enjoy it. He would have loved this 4-mile course of soft wood chips meandering through woods, fields and along the Willamette River. It was a perfect day--blue skies, 60 degrees and a perfect surface for my Five-finger Vibrams. And even though I was the only runner (correction, I really don't actually run--it's more of a jog) thus shod, (or maybe because I was thus shod...) I felt awesome! When I'd run for any time before using these, I'd always get pain in my knees and hips. With these forcing me to run on the balls of my feet (simulating barefoot running) I ran twice around the four-mile loop with none of those problems. Rich, on the other hand, pulled another hamstring...