Communing with Pre

I opened the year in a great way yesterday - I went for a run on Pre's Trail in Eugene, Oregon. Beloved's family has lived in Eugene for nearly 20 years, so we come here every other year for a Christmas visit. Pre's Trail runs along the Willamette River, starting at Alton Baker Park and winding in three loops, past Autzen Stadium before turning around near I-5 and winding back to the park. It's a bark trail, so it's much easier on the knees than the pavement trail I'll be running today.

"Communing with Pre" might be a bit of a stretch. Steve Prefontaine was one of the greatest distance runners in history, a small, fast, outrageously confident runner who only had one gear: full speed ahead. Me? I'm a relapsed nose tackle who is neither small nor fast. The last time I finished in the top five of a race was in fourth grade. But there is a definite spirit here in Eugene when it comes to running and being outdoors. The University of Oregon's Cross Country team won the men's national title this year, and Hayward Field, where Pre set many records and destroyed many would-be opponents, has been selected as the host site for the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. To run here is to run with the greats, and it's been a lot of fun this week.

Between the running and a trip to Portland on Saturday to have lunch with my cousin who loves in Seattle, I've also run out of podcasts on my iPod. So it's been random shuffling for the past few days. Here's a sample of what I've been hearing:

"Look Out For My Love" - Neil Young, Unplugged
"Music for the Royal Fireworks - 2. Bourree" - Frederick Fennell and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Holst, Handel & Bach
"Pregame Fanfares / There Is No Place Like Nebraska" - Cornhusker Marching Band (from the days when I was at bowl games, not watching them on TV)
"Speak To Me" - Rebecca St. James, God
"Rachamid A Bhean Bheag" - The Chieftains, An Irish Evening
"Bloomdido" - Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker, Ken Burns' Jazz Collection
"Flowers on the Wall" - The Statler Brothers
"She's Got A Way" [Live] - Billy Joel, Greatest Hits, Volume 2
"Alone" [Live] - Blues Traveler, Live from the Fall
"Easy Street" [Live] - Peter Mayer, elements
"Mr. Soul" - Neil Young, Unplugged (apparently this was the "live" portion of my runs this week)
"Lincolnshire Posy - 3. Rufford Park Poachers" - Percy Grainger, performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble
"Our Two Hearts" - David Lee Brown, Old New Borrowed Blue
"The De'il Among the Tailors" - The Wild Clover Band, One Token Irish Man
"El Condor Pasa (If I Could) - Simon & Garfunkel
"You Are On My Mind" - Chicago, performed by (you guessed it!) the 1992 Cornhusker Marching Band
"Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?" - Chicago, The Very Best of Chicago
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Simon & Garfunkel (this was the 1970s pop stars portion of my runs)
"Ellas Mari" - Navan, Lowena (possibly the most haunting song in my iPod right now - it's in Cornish, with a groundtone that just stretches through the song and makes you think you're walking through Rivendell or Lothlorien while listening to the song.)
"With Only Love" - Sara Hart, Into These Rooms