Parents Gone Wild

Several of my friends ran in the Get Lucky 7k race in Minneapolis last year for St. Patrick's Day. Right away I new it was a race I wanted to do the following year. Dave found a great deal on a hotel and then I somehow convinced him to run the race too.

We shipped our boys off to grandma and grandpa's house and got to have dinner with our good friends late Friday night. The weather was so cold compared to the unseasonable highs of 80 degrees last year. I think it was 15 degrees on Saturday with a blistering wind that bit something fierce. We decided to walk up to the race an hour early with our friends.  And after standing around freezing for a while we smuggled ourselves into a hotel right at the start of the race to warm up with a our big green tutus.

I left the group to get into with the 9:30 minute pacer staging area. From what I've heard the Get Lucky is the largest road race in Minnesota. Almost 10,000 people ran the 7k in Minneapolis and 2,600 people ran the half in St. Paul. They started us in waves and I debated starting with the 10 minute group, but really I should have been with the 9 minute pace. Right away when I crossed the start line people in front of me were walking. The road was slick from the little snow that fell the night before and then I had to dodge non-runners. I ran a pretty consistent 9 minute mile despite the road conditions, so I was happy! I finished in 39:42.

After the race Dave and I went on a lunch date despite my exhaustion. We've been doing a pretty good job of going on dates since he started his new job and went on shifts. It was nice to just be us and have good conversations. And the Guinness was refreshing. Then we got latte's and attempted to walk around the old Mill City area of Minneapolis where our race was, but the wind was still horrible and sent us walking back to the hotel.

After our date we met back up with our friends and went to a crazy crowded Irish Pub for beers, Irish Whiskey and dinner. We managed to scout out a table and hang out for a while before we headed to the Shout House- a piano bar that we frequented just after college pre-kids. There we ran into two other couples from Hutchinson that ran in the race (and have sons close to Adam's age). Then we ran into another 3M couple with a son Adam's age (they just happened to be in Minneapolis for a date night). We shouted over the music for hours before we headed to a dance club. Yes all of us- me being the youngest and not quite 30 went to a dance club! It was like college again- parents gone wild! And so much fun.

The next day I was so anxious to meet up with our little leprechauns.  I got a double hug at the top of my parents stairs- best hug of the weekend!