Changin' it up

Due to the forecasted weather this weekend I had to improvise my long run. After a horrific Friday am run in the wind and rain I decided I'd sacrifice a rest day and do my 20 miles Saturday am. Why not.
Improvising a long run, especially the last of my training runs before Napa had me nervous. There were a million what-ifs. Not only that, I was running the same distance as last weekend and that run was glorious. There was a lot to live up to.
I ventured out and knew my legs weren't 100% right away, but they felt surprisingly good. Long about mile 3.5 the unthinkable happened, my gum fell out of my mouth.
So I know you're thinking, "Big deal". Well, call me superstitious, OCD, whatever.....but I chew gum from the start until about mile 7-8. So, I figured this would be good practice for the "what-if" that happened on race day. I know, I'm weird.
About mile 4, I spotted another runner ahead of me. I eventually caught up and notified her several feet prior to catching her "runner on your right" as courtesy. There are few worse things than being frightened by another runner, especially in less than full daylight.
At any rate, she thanked me......and started chatting away. Long story short, she lives in the retirement community I run through, she is Samuel Merritt alumnae too and she is married to the retired Police Chief of Newark and Alameda and was running to the corner store for coffee! Ha! So I ran with her for about 1/2 mile, it was cool. Even cooler though was around mile 15 when I was back in the area where I first saw her.
"Keep going, you're awesome!" I heard her shouting from her car as she passed me on the street.
I needed that.
I kept repeating her words as I galloped home. I knew I was slower than last week, so I decided I'd need to really pick it up the last 5 miles. I hit a strong stride and went with it, I knew I was nearly sub-7's and kept pushing.
I turned the last corner into the neighborhood when I saw a familiar site.....Chris in his truck.
What the ?!?!?! He wasn't supposed to be home until Sunday morning......
I could feel the emotion start to grab on, but told myself.....
Keep running! Pump your arms.
Got home to find my hubby with 3 roses (our third ♥ day together) and a card that notified me to:
"Pack an overnight bag with something for a nice dinner"

We spent a great night going out to dinner in San Francisco gazing at the bay and even snuck in a little shopping in Union Square.

Feeling incredibly lucky and happy......and I'm thinking I'll be even more happy after March 7th when I don't have to spend a holiday from work studying. blurg.