ADIOS!

Today I slogged through six bone-numbing miles in conditions I rank second on the discomfort scale behind cold wind. The temperature stood at 36 degrees, a steady rain fell, and an easterly wind sliced its way through my rain vest, my Under Armour, and directly into my bones.

What a fitting final day of the Winter from Hell.

Now, I'm not delusional enough to think that because the calendar indicates that tomorrow is officially the first day of Spring that the world will be full of brightly colored crocuses and chirping robins. In fact, I'm scheduled to officiate a track meet on Monday. The high temperature is expected to top out at a Lambeau Field-like high of 35 degrees.

It just won't quit. Last thursday, the high temperature of 22 degrees was the lowest high temperature ever recorded on that date here in northeastern Pennsylvania.

So, I'm sure we all are saying 'Adios' to a winter we'd all like to forget.

By the time we reach April, you'll be able to close your eyes and click on your computer screen, and you'll land on a plethora of races every weekend. People will be covered with mud, sprayed with pain, running races on secluded trails, and covering amazing distances at thousands of races.

A little over a month from now, over 36,000 runners will celebrate Patriot's Day in Boston, and after that, spring will have definitely arrived.

I think the tribulations we have all suffered through during the winter of 2013-14 have made us better runners. We have made it. We have endured. We are stronger, both of mind and body. I guarantee we will appreciate the sights, sounds, and smells of spring more than we have in a long time.

This annual trip around the sun is a glorious thing. Embrace the fact that we have thumbed our noses at Old Man Winter and we have prevailed.

A new season is upon us.

Let's make the most of it.