Last night I went running while all the trick-or-treaters were out. Fortunately, I was wearing a white Wallace and Grommitt “Curse of the Wererabbit” T-shirt. That helped me feel less grinchy and humorless, having done NOTHING this year to celebrate: No pumpkin. No candy. No tombstone cookies. No cutesy Halloween blog post. There was too much other stuff going on that made Halloween feel like the strange custom of another planet. Oh well.

Resolved: Next year, I’ll not only do a Jack-o-lantern, but get it from the pumpkin patch instead of TJs. Or maybe tonight I’ll just throw on a costume and go trick-or-treating and see what happens. I want my joy! NOW!

But before the cops haul me off for poking around people’s gardens in a sexy barmaid outfit, a recommendation: I was dead tired last night and probably would have walked my run if it weren’t for an MP3 program I bought last month, Cardio Coach. It’s a guided workout designed for stationary exercise machines, but that works great for outdoor running, too. Despite a few moments of smug hilarity as the dude talks you through butt-kicking sprints — e.g. “Most people would give up here. But that’s why most people are overweight and lazy. Not you!” — the guide really does manage to get you to work harder. The workout is based on exertion rates, so it can be scaled to any level of fitness. Recommended.