Valve forgot to tell you, they actually implemented motion blur in Episode 1! ;)
In reality though, you're going fifty past those things, aren't you? You're only meant to see each tree for like six frames, or two on my rig. ;)
I saw that too. My guess is that they brought back the HL1 system for the flashlight, so it can go for like 3 minutes without going out, and the sprinting energy is a separate thing.
I agree with you, not those assholes who beat the game in 2.5 hours and complained that they got "ripped off". My first run through the game took eight hours. My second run (with commentary on) was still six hours. I play Valve's games to explore. If I wanted a timed game, I'd play Solitaire. ;)
What I realize I actually should have done was make a new account, and buy Silver/Gold on that account, so then I'd have two: one with all of Valve's games, and one with all of the games I had bought previously (which included CZ, so it was kind of a waste to get Silver other than HL:S and DOD:S...