Phil........dude......NICE!!

Adjust that effort for the longer haul & you're gonna kill a marathon.

Friggin' awesome lookin' swag too.  Seriously, that is one cool medal!

Congratulations on doing so well despite the wind and sand.  Good practice for those last miles of the marathon.  You know how to hang on and persevere.

Love the medal.

Congrats Phil on the PB and OA! Nasty fade but we're not the one dealing with headwinds and ill-footing. I finished a 10k on a horse track a few years back - I feel you. Hope you have better luck week 2 than you did vs the 'bolts.

Way to go, and congrats on the PR!  Running into a headwind, and on the beach is no joke.  I had a couple of runs on the beach this past spring, and it was awful.

You are going to have to change your title, I think.

Thanks for all the comments!  I'd have taken the time to reply to some of these sooner, but weekend laziness wins out.

DaveP, lol at the potato sack comment.  I actually had a woman yell to me "Come on, kick!" during the beach finish.  I replied, "I'm trying!"  Impossible to kick on that sand.

LRB, in-race nutrition:  A gel about 10 minutes before the start, half a cup of water at mile 2, a gel at mile 6, half a cup of water at mile 6.5.  That was it.  Breakfast three hours before the start was two packets of oatmeal and a cup of coffee, and a Hammer Bar an hour before the start.  I tend to not fuel/water much during any race expect a marathon.

Kevin, I did this race last year and the wind wasn't as bad.  I kind of expect it though, being on the shore and all.  I mean, how often do you go to the beach and it's not windy?

runwell, I wish I knew you were there so I could have looked for you.  One of these times, man!  My Garmin measured 12.99 miles.  Almost all of the Strava uploads I've looked at fall between 13.1 and 13.2 miles though.  I really like this race.  I do a lot of running on out and back routes, so I am used to that aspect of it.  Seems like this race is getting more popular and the field size keeps increasing.  Thanks for posting the article too!

Moth, good thing I run better than I play fantasy football.  Week 2 isn't looking much better.  

Thanks again for all the comments.  I don't mean to sound like I am blaming the wind for not being faster.  It just is what it is.  I think my finish time is probably pretty indicative of where I am right now.  I'm still very happy with my race.  My previous PR was set on rested and tapered legs and was my goal race last year.  This PR was just a fitness test in the middle of marathon training.  Pretty happy that I PR'd it.  

Heh, check it.  Beach finish and running alone.    The person in front of me was further away than the person behind me.  And speaking of the person behind me, you can see that person and it gives you a pretty good idea of how long the beach finish was.

 A gel about 10 minutes before the start, half a cup of water at mile 2, a gel at mile 6, half a cup of water at mile 6.5.  That was it.

I am having such a hard time taking a gel while running, and in a race forget it!  Guess I just have to keep trying, sigh.

That pic does give a good perspective of the finish, geez.  Probably should take your shoes off once on it.  lol

Congrats! I ran one windy half and it was just so miserable and hard.

I didn't get the impression you were offering up excuses, just relaying facts. Would it have made a 3-4 minute difference? No, but would you have run 60 seconds faster? Quite possibly. Photo looks pretty but not exactly suitable for a fast finish.

Agreed.