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Just a girl and her favorite dog.. 🐶

A person with closed eyes is lying on a couch, cuddling a large fluffy black dog with a white patch on its chest. A smartphone is nearby on the armrest. The floor is wooden.

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Since my daughter had to get up really early for Hockey today I decided I would get my run in early as well before I started my day. Weather wise it was better than the weekend but still humid out. If did some trails and some road to keep the variety going and scenery.

A narrow dirt path winds through a large green meadow, leading to a line of dense trees. The sky is overcast with thick, textured clouds, creating a dramatic atmosphere.

A narrow dirt path winds through a lush, green forest with dense foliage on both sides, under a canopy of tall trees.

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It is going to be a hot one today and tomorrow so after procrastinating for a while I decided this was my time to run if it was going to happen at all this weekend. should get just a little bit more millage for the week to at least keep building on that even though I bailed on a long run.

Lush green wetland with tall grasses and a serene pond under a partly cloudy sky.

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Decided to use my time wisely this morning as my daughter was at hockey practice and I got a handful of miles in before I needed to pick her up.

Dense green foliage surrounds a lush, vibrant clearing with a fallen tree in the background under a blue sky.

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How can I pass up a game of Catan, when my oldest asked to play. 🌾🧱🐑🪵💎

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I lost thought… 😔

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Don’t be fooled by this shady part as the rest of my run felt like the opposite of cool but more close to melting in the sun. I don’t think I’m used to the heat yet as my body definitely would not have been ready for the long run and envisioned in my mind so I was happy to get done what I got done.

A straight, dirt path lined with lush, green trees creating a canopy overhead, casting dappled shadows on the trail.

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Warm out again today but glad to get some more miles in for…. Oh wait, I don’t have anything on my radar for running. Oh well, it is great me time so a win anyways.

No photo taken as it was hot and I kept telling myself to wait to stop as I feared if I did I would want to stop and then…. I was done 😔 🤷‍♂️

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It was a warm one out there tonight on this run. However, I did notice on this trail these signs look new almost like they might really be serious now. Well for another day as it makes no sense the other side of the tracks is the actual trail. 🛤️

A warning sign by active railroad tracks, cautioning against trespassing. Dense greenery is visible beyond the tracks.

Also found another looked like trail to this dead end. A peaceful, green meadow with lush grass and a dense tree line in the background under a clear, blue sky. Tree branches frame the top of the image.

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I am glad to have gotten this long run done today but not sure my legs and body were ready for it like my mind was. Besides that though it was nice out and only got misted on a little bit. Not to mention the scenery of this run is always a favorite for street running.

A serene lakeside scene with lush green trees and grass. A small dock with a yellow-and-white striped canopy extends into the calm water. The landscape is rich and verdant, conveying a peaceful, natural atmosphere.

A lush green field bordered by a wooden fence with trees in the background under a cloudy sky.

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Decided to get a short run in between the rain today as it is looking very rainy all weekend so not sure what that is going to mean for me.

A serene landscape featuring tall green and brown grasses in the foreground, a wide lake in the middle, and a lush forest in the background under a cloudy sky.

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While waiting for the kids to come back home tonight I decided after work to get a run in. Let’s just say my legs were talking to me from yesterday but I kept plodding along in the heat to grind out the miles.

A serene wetland landscape with a variety of lush green trees framing the scene. The foreground features dense foliage, while the background reveals an open field with sparse vegetation under a partly cloudy sky.

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Not going to lie I did not have learn to use Apple Configurator to perform a recovery of this Mac Mini M1 on my bingo card for tonight. The plan was to just reinstall the OS not get into the Device Firmware Update and mess with things. A computer screen showing the Apple Configurator application running, with a “Restoring System on device” progress window open. The background features a forest scene with tall trees.

However, it did work and I am mostly back and running.

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Decided to find some elevation and hit the trails today. Running at this location provides me with more elevation than I can normally get and out of the trails on the top you get some nice views even if it is from a “trail” you might have just followed that was not on the map.

A lush, green landscape with dense trees and bushes under a cloudy sky.

Cloudy sky over a lush green landscape with a river winding through.

A narrow, leaf-covered path winds through a lush, green forest. Tall trees with dense foliage frame the scene, and a small wooden footbridge crosses over a dry creek bed. Sunlight filters through the canopy, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

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Decided to get out and enjoy the weather today with a short run to round off the day. We didn’t have much going on today so it made sense to do something.

A narrow wooden boardwalk leads through a lush, green forest. Tall grass and dense foliage surround the path under a cloudy sky.

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Was glad to fine some time to get out for a run today and actually I was able to extend it as I was feeling good and realized I had some more time to kill. I think, I need to have a little longer run during the weeks as it might help with my recovery of my long runs as they are fine but I have felt it for days after the last couple weeks.

Lush green meadow with tall grass and scattered trees under a cloudy sky. A small stream winds through the landscape.

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Figured I should get some miles in today since it was Global Running Day! 🏃‍♂️

Legs felt heavy at the start but loosened up along the run so it was a good idea to get out there.

A tranquil, tree-lined dirt path surrounded by lush greenery, extending into the distance under a clear sky.

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Been a long time since I have done a long run late in the evening. The goal was to start earlier but things pushed it back. When I finally started I decided to just go with it. Wasn’t bad overall air quality and temp was good, legs felt heavy in the last stretches and it was really dark.

Silhouette of trees surrounding a tranquil lake at sunset, with orange and blue hues in the sky reflecting on the water’s surface.

A tranquil pond surrounded by lush greenery and trees at dusk. A lit fountain in the center casts a warm glow, reflecting on the calm water.

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Happy 16th Birthday to this kid today! I can’t believe he is 16 years old and will now be out driving in the real world without his parents. So proud of him! A young person stands smiling in a kitchen with wooden floors. A “watch out driver” sign hangs in the background. A table is covered with gifts and a large, silver balloon shaped like a car.

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Decided to kill some time and ran some loops around these ponds in Maple Grove while waiting for my daughter at a birthday party. I haven’t spent much time up here but it is a really nice area with lots of walking, running, biking trails around this main area. Not sure you can tell from the photo but the sky is filled with smoke so I guess it helped keep me out of the sun.

A circular stone labyrinth with red paths is set in a garden surrounded by benches and trees. A walkway extends from the labyrinth into the distance.

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Setup Change - Computer Swap

I have been spending more time than I like to admit making small (but big to me changes) in some setups I have. I was going to put all of the changes in just this post but relized after writing the first one might have gone into too much detail so I will break it out as I probably need more time to polish how to describe the other setup changes.

The first and easiest one was my beloved MacBook Air M2 16GB RAM and 500GB storage. It’s such a great machine, and when I bought it, I was actually able to use it for my day job instead of the Windows machine they gave me. That worked well for about nine months, but then (like companies do) security got ratcheted up and I couldn’t access our Google Suite of things (e.g., email specifically) so it became less than ideal to keep using it.

That didn’t stop me from using the MacBook Air though, I would use it for everything non-work-related. However, after a while I just started leaving it connected to an extra USB-C docking station I had near my work setup, and honestly, it probably hasn’t left that dock in the last six months.

Meanwhile, my wife, who works for the public school system, has an old Intel-based MacBook Air (not even sure which version) with only 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, barely enough to do anything. She’s constantly running out of space, and it’s painfully slow. So it felt like a no-brainer to give my MacBook Air M2 a new home.

That said, I still liked the idea of being able to remote into a personal computer, since I’ve been doing other projects from it and enjoy the separation between work and personal machines. I ended up finding a great deal on a Mac Mini M1, 16GB RAM, 1TB storage for just $350, and that was the extra push I needed so I jumped on it.

It arrived the other day, and for the first time ever, I used Time Machine to get the new-to-me machine up and running. I was really impressed after some time (maybe my only gripe is not knowing how long it would take) everything was loaded on there. And as far as I can tell, it feels exactly like my previous computer, just now as a desktop.

This setup is a win overall. I’ve got a machine I can sit in front of like I’m doing now, or just remote into as needed from my work computer or iPad. And as for the laptop, it’s now going to be used by my wife for schoolwork and photo editing. The photo editing is something she couldn’t really do on her work computer (way too slow). So she used to carry around our child’s iMac, which she claims is portable, but let’s be honest it’s really not.