PQ – I did some googling, and it seems like functional stretching is also known as dynamic stretching. this page has some of the stretches he demonstrated at the top.

PQ – Some of those speedwalkers are wicked fast. At my first 5K, the fastest speedwalker finshed as fast as I ran the thing.

I’m also a runner who has lost weight with running and racing as the primary form of exercise. I was racing for three years (including multiple half marathons) and keeping my weight steady and terribly frustrated. Turns out, I would just eat all the calories I burned from exercising (seems obvious, but it felt like a mystery for a long time). I had to start counting calories to lose weight and to account for exercise (per your pondering of how and what to eat after running) since a 150-lb person burns 100 calories per mile they run. Since a bagel is generally about 300-400 calories, you should still be in deficit if you eat one after a 10k, but probably not after a 5k. I used this rule to calculate how much I should eat to replace the amount I lost on a run, and keep a deficit elsewhere in my diet (hence the losing of weight). I lost 35 pounds this way while training for a marathon and other distance events and now I’m racing at the top of my game. It’s fabulous that just by losing weight, you go faster.

Hope that is helpful.

PQ – Thanks, Emily. I started tracking my food again today, so hopefully I can stop overeating on training days.

However, now that I’ve started this comment, I will add myself to the chorus of people who think you’re cool. I’m also a girl who spends most of her day writing code (I’m a computational scientist, not a web developer, though) and lots her free time running, so I definitely relate to you there. Though I favor the vegetarian, low-fat, high-carb sort of diet myself, I don’t think my decisions are the ones that would work for everybody, and I also preach the “you should find what works for you” gospel. Oh, and I love Reese’s too.

I don’t know why I felt like you wanted to know everything about me just because I read your blog.

PQ – I really hope they have those bagels at the end of the 10K next week. If not, I might actually stop at a Panera and get one.

Wanted to say concerning you not keeping your goal to talk to 2 people each time…it really is quite pleasant to be around non-talkers…I’d find your company very relaxing and a nice change…most people today are overstimulated and appreciate someone who is pleasant and mute…so don’t be too hard on yourself…I’d ten times rather have a pleasant non-talker than someone who yammers in my ear…btw..I’m one of those talkers..hahaha…but I’m learning to shut up…also, I find I enjoy the silence of my own company …but then I do have a husband who comes home every night and he is there to talk to when I need company..if I lived alone perhaps I would feel differently…

If it’s friendship you’d like, ask God to send you a friend…he does have a plan for your life…I’ve moved around a lot due to hubby’s work…and in answer to my prayers, God has always given me at least one good friend…I now have a collection of them, though scattered around the U.S.

It’s time to shed that old photo of you before you lost all the weight, and show a glimpse of your face.

Just MHO.

And, by the way, good luck!