For those "math nerds" out there, a triple 7k is roughly the distance of a half marathon. In the case of the Get Lucky! Triple 7k, it's exactly the distance of a half marathon. This was my second pacing event and it was just as exciting as the first one.
Last June I paced the Minneapolis Half Marathon and this weekend I got to pace another Team Ortho event which I also got to use as part of a 21 mile training run. The weather was perfect--a little chilly at the start at around 30 degrees, but it steadily warmed up as the race progressed.
There wasn't much of a group with me this time. I think there were maybe a little over a dozen people running with me off and on. Mostly people just used me as a gauge and didn't really want to be part of my "pace group." Perhaps I wasn't as handsome as I was at the Minneapolis Half, or perhaps there were more people running in the 1:45 group trying to get into the first wave of the Twin Cities Marathon while the 1:40 group didn't offer any special sort of appeal.
I did get to run with a couple of friends from the Minnesota Running Wild running club. One of our younger members who came to watch the race decided that it would be fun to run a mile with me while wearing jeans and Italian basketball shoes. His failure to wear a belt had people smiling as he ran with one hand holding his pants up.
Another Running Wild gal ran with me the whole way until the end when she peeled off to go get a PR. I was impressed that she could chat it up for 10 miles and then take off and set a PR. I would've been sucking air by mile 4 if I were her.
The Triple 7k capped off a pretty great week of running. I got 4.5 miles in before I started pacing and then 3.5 after, which left me with a 73+ mile week--another mileage PR. I got to see a bunch of friends from the Running Wild before, during, and after the race--Don set a big PR with a 1:19 and Gerad won the race with a 1:15. I nailed my pacing assignment with a 1:39:55.
It was also great seeing my wife and niece at the end of the half marathon. I gave my niece my finisher's medal as I felt she should be able to bring a medal that say's "Get Lucky!" to kindergarten for show-and-tell.
Next week should be another good one. I'm going to keep the mileage up and maybe cut back the last two days of the week so I can get a decent race in on Saturday--the MDRA 7-miler.
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