Rest In Peace, Whitney

Whitney Houston passed away on Saturday. It was so sudden... I found out on twitter smh. I had just finished spending the afternoon volunteering at a horse rescue with Diana when I just signed on to twitter. Someone tweeted "it can't be true.. not Whitney." My phone updated 100 times in 10 minutes. It was so crazy. I went to my apartment, turned on CNN and listened as Don Lemon confirmed her passing. The TTs on twitter soon enough became a playlist of Whitney's greatest hits.

Her death brought back my love for R&B from the early 90s. It's always been there but mainly for the late 90s. I got on iTunes and bought her self-titled album and the Bodyguard. I remember the first time I saw Whitney with the buzz cut.. my mom had that album on cassette. She pulled the case out of this box full of other tapes and there was this thin, stately black woman with such short hair like I'd never seen before. The first cds I remember having were The Bodyguard and Mariah Carey's Music Box. Listening to The Bodyguard made me listen to Mariah Carey's Music Box and Daydream so I had to buy both. And then I saw an icon for TLC's CrazySexyCool album. I played the last song on the album, Something Wicked Come My Way and I remembered every. single. word. I could not believe myself. I used to LOVE that song. I started remembering how hard I practiced Left Eye's verse from Waterfalls and how upset I was when this kid in my class doubted me when I said I knew the verse by memory. Ha!

But long story short.. Whitney was a bridge. She's younger than my parents by about 5-7 years. My parents listened to her in the 80s and respected her in the 90s. I grew up with her in the 90s. She was a bridge between generations. Her and Michael (you could probably add Prince and Madonna in there too). They were the two that bound my parents musical tastes to my own. That's what is so sad. There are ties that bind my parents and I. Many actually. We're a tight and very close family. But to know that some of those ties, no matter how weak are loosening.. well that's sad.

I run to live. I live to run.

As I passed the fourth block on my uphill run this morning, I thought.. Ariel, you're running to live and soon you'll live to run. I have no idea if it's already a slogan (probably is) but it will be my mantra during this weight loss journey. I never thought I would say that I enjoy running. But here I am, waking up in the morning knowing today is my day to run. I get sad when it's my "short run" day. I'm annoyed when I can't run in the mornings, but then I get excited because afternoon runs are pretty energizing as well.

At 27 years of life, I weigh 269 pounds and my metabolic age is 90. I truly am running to live. I am someone who thinks about life and death all the time. Death scares me. Every day I pray today isn't my last day because I don't feel like I have accomplished anything that I have the potential to do. When I die, I want people to cry because they will miss me. I want them to cry because they know there will never be another like me and what I did while I was alive, impacted thousands. Conceited? Possibly, however this is my truth. But to die from my weight. I refuse.

So here I am, running to live. I ran and walked 3.22 miles today, essentially my first 5K. It took an hour because the last .5 mile I walked.. slowly. But I did it. I ran 2.7 miles uphill and downhill. I only stopped three times. This is coming from a girl who could barely run one mile without stopping.

I did all this in one month. Can you imagine where I'll be by March?

Discoveries

Sad news... Don Cornelius passed away this morning from an apparent gun shot wound. One of my college friends wrote "wishing him love, peace and soul." Kind of sad to think he may not have felt that before he passed. :(

He wasn't the original reason for this post, but I thought I should acknowledge his passing. The original reason was my discovery of Favorite Run. It's a website that helps you log different running routes in your area, and see where others are running. I've logged in five different routes so far, including a dream run of four miles. I'm hoping to run this in March, April at the latest. If you're in Claremont, check out my runs at ladee5o. Also, keep in mind, I'm a newbie jogger/runner. My routes are quite short.. for now. :D

Also, I need a running mantra. I don't really need it, but Runners World suggested it and I think it's a good idea. Any suggestions?