Heads up: 7-7 vs AK

So I playing in the NBC heads up freeroll on FT and this hand comes along:

7-7vs AK

As you can see from the replay, the board showed two pair and I lost to the ace kicker. This was only the fourth overall hand against this opponent, who went all in several times preflop. My thought is that I should've been more patient with this person, but what do you all think? For what it's worth, this was the 4th game of the first round in the heads up qualifier.

ryo:

I agree that patience is a special virtue when playing heads up. When your opponent goes all in over and over, a jackal like this is especially dangerous to call because you are gambling survival in every hand. Long-term odds are of less value in a single hand if you risk everything. Better strategy is to take your pots bit by bit and wear your opponent down - build your chip advantage so as the blinds go up you can see more flops and cash in on the hits.

that said let me say this..i,m sure some will view it wrong but here goes..
were you short stacked,and if so by how much...when it comes head to head with me ans an opponent and hes short stacked by a margin of 70 percent or more..i push relentlentlessly...i,m willing to take an all in on a par hand...i,m pushing because i want him to feel his options are narrowing,i want him to make a bad call..if i got a huge lead i push and i push hard...
that said looking at the hand...whats there to say,i,ve read your post here and respect you...77-a,k///your at near 50 percent...there was no question..its the right call by both players and the cards fell as they may.but the best we can do as just what you did...look at our wins and losses and try n learn from them,the last thing i,ll say about this is i congragulate you win or lose when you play a set of cards right and fate intervenes...its just fate it takes nothing from the player

not much you can do in that situation.