Running in Winnipeg, or Ode to My Sister-in-Law

All loaded up and ready for home!

Joy here…On a warm June 16, we arrived back in Ottawa after 12 months in Kuala Lumpur.  We were met at the airport by a friend who loaded up all of our suitcases and bike boxes in and on top of his car, and everything fit!  Well, almost everything.  I ended up taking a cab.

And then on June 17, I hopped on another plane to head to Winnipeg for a week's worth of meetings.

Now, throughout this past year being based in Asia, I had many a late night (ahem, all night) Skype meeting in order to fulfill my North American obligations, and in both September and March I flew back to Winnipeg from Asia for meetings.  So this quick turnaround in June didn't feel all that different.  In fact, it still felt like we lived in Malaysia, and I almost asked The Man to run down to his aunt and uncle's house for me, forgetting that they no longer live a 5 minute drive away, but rather a 25 hour flight away!

Our Winnipeg running route.

As I grappled with jet lag and feeling a surreal sense of displacement, there was one really great aspect to my quick trip to Winnipeg this June.  It was, in short, my sister-in-law.

You see, my brother and sister-in-law started dating when they were 15 years old or so, and got married when they were 27.  I'm only 2 years older than they are, and so I literally feel as though I've grown up knowing my sister-in-law.  I mean, I've known her for over 20 years by this point!

But the funny thing about growing up with someone and thinking you know them very well is that you may, in fact, know them very well in some ways and not at all in others.  I mean, the way that you can be super duper comfortable with family members, but not really know what makes them tick.  What are they passionate about?  What do they love to do in their spare time?  What do they believe to the core of their being?  These are things that I don't know that I could answer about my sister-in-law.  I know that she's generous and loving and that she has an amazing smile and infectious laugh.  I know that she's a good person inside and out.  I know that she's beautiful and serious and silly.  But I don't know that I know her the way that I would if I had just met her now - adult to adult.

Nice to not have to run alone in the wooded areas!

The good news is that in recent years, she's taken up running (yay!!!), and so when I was in town, I coordinated with her to head down Wellington Crescent towards Assiniboine Park (c'mon Winnipeggers…you know what route that is!) for a run together, my first run on Canadian soil since returning.

Running is sometimes the best way to get to know someone.  You have just you and that other person out there in the hot sun, finding your pace and your rhythm, feeling the endorphins, and making conversation.  There's something about the experience that is really enjoyable if you can share it with someone.

And so as we ran in that hot mid-day sun, we shared.  We talked about all sorts of things, some that I recall with great clarity now, and some that I've forgotten, but what I felt is that with each step of our running shoes on the pathway, we got closer to knowing each other as running buddies, not just as sisters-in-law.

And I have to say, I'm pretty happy to know her and am going to make a concerted effort to continue to get to know her better over the next 20 years.

Let's hope my running shoes don't wear out!

Over and out,
Joy