Triathlon Challenge: Day 17!

Made it to spin class this morning! :) Another 15 miles down, 52 to go!

Dropped Buddy off at Happy Paws this morning and picked him up around 6pm, so he had a FANTASTIC day full of fun with his furry friends! :)

Other than that, not too much else going on! Lots of schoolwork that I'm starting to buckle down for...luckily my time management has been pretty good lately!!!

Tomorrow's agenda: Jog 1.3 miles, then spin for 90 minutes to knock off 22 miles! Then I'll be studying, working in ACAT lab, then working at Petsmart for the night.

Clearwater Beach Clean-up this Sunday! Whoop whoop!!!

Fail for today...but not for the whole challenge!

So didn't make it to work out this morning...woke up with a massive headache for some reason :( So I tried to sleep it off, and it worked for the most part, but still lingered throughout the day...didn't make it to the gym tonight, but instead had dinner at Amigos with Samantha Horn! :) I definitely needed that instead of a gym day today hahaha!

Now that leaves the REVISED-revised schedule for the rest of the Triathlon Challenge:
Tomorrow, 10/20: Run 1.0 miles (8.3 miles left) Spin 15 miles (52 miles left)
Friday, 10/21: Run 0.3 miles (8.0 miles left) Spin 22 miles (30 miles left)
Saturday, 10/22: Run 4.0 miles (4.0 miles left)
Sunday, 10/23: Nothing due to Beach Clean-up (unless I can make it to the gym late Sunday night to finish my 4.0 miles of running!)
Monday, 10/24: Spin @ 4:15p for 15 miles (15 miles left!)
Tuesday, 10/25: Spin @ 5:30p for 15 miles (DONE with spinning!)
Wednesday, 10/26: Swim 1.2 miles/44 laps (DONE with swimming!)
THEN DONE WITH THE TRIATHLON CHALLENGE!!!

I've only got about a week and a half left to finish...so gotta finish out strong!!!
It will be such a feeling of accomplishment and I can not wait! Like I said before, I've gotta try to figure out a challenge like this for every month so I stay motivated :)

Other than that, classes are still going great! Lab positions are paying off more than ever and I'm loving every minute of working on them!

Like I said before...best semester ever :)

Triathlon Challenge: Day 15!

Semi-success!
Made it to spin class today to knock off another 15 miles of biking (which leaves 67 miles to go!) but didn't get a chance to jog before the class...but I plan on making that up tomorrow! I'll be at the spin class at 6:15a (yikes!) then will run at 6:45a! That should get me 7 more miles of biking and I'm shooting for 4.5-5.0 miles of running! :)
I'm really excited to complete this challenge; I think I'm going to set something like this every month!
I did see that the Disney Princess Half Marathon is coming up in February...that might be something to shoot for! Especially since the weather should be cooling down and Buddy will have SO much pent up energy!!!

But other than that; I am SO excited for everything that has been going on! I will be the lead on a project in CogSciLab that could lead to a conference poster presentation!!! :) SO PUMPED!
I really hope it works out!

Here is a cute picture of Buddy in (one of) his Halloween Costumes!

Race for the cure pictures!!! :)

I've got a TON of things going on lately, but I'm loving every minute of it :)

Race for the Cure and Triathlon Challenge: Days 13 and 14!

All right!
So Race for the Cure was a COMPLETE success!!! Ran my fastest time for a 5K yet (thanks Auntie Joyce!) at 29:16!
Thanks to Norah, Gabriela, and Natali for running on the Knights for Mammary Conservation team! :) Yall are awesome!!!

Placing 169th ain't too shabby! :)
So Race for the Cure was another 3.1 miles off of the Triathlon Challenge!

And today I managed to squeeze in a 2.8 mile walk/jog; so now I'm up to 16.9 miles; which means I have only 9.3 miles left for running!
I need to catch up on the biking part though...only at 30 miles, which means I have 82 miles to go!
I had to readjust my schedule so here's the updated break-down for the rest of the week:\

Tues 10/18-Run 2.0 miles, then Spin 15 miles
Weds 10/19-Spin 7 miles, then Run 3 miles
Thurs 10/20-Spin 15 miles
Fri 10/21-Spin 22 miles
Sat 10/22-Run 4.3 miles (DONE with Running!)
Sun 10/23-Nothing (Clearwater Beach Clean-up)
Mon 10/24-Spin 7 miles
Tues 10/25-Spin 16 miles (DONE with Biking!)
Wed 10/26-Swim 1.2 miles (DONE with Swimming!)
DONE WITH THE TRIATHLON CHALLENGE!!!  :)

That will be such a wonderful feeling and accomplishment...I CAN'T WAIT!

Triathlon Challenge: Day 12!

WOW!

This was an amazing week!!! Another great day today :)

Started off by running 3.1 miles in the gym! Another Tri-Challenge success!!!

Did an awesome time today! If I hadn't felt a blister forming (which it did...ugh!) or could figure out how to do a proper warm-up before it starts tracking your pace, it would've been even better!!! :)

Anyway, after that I went to PEBL to work and also talked with Dr. Worthy. This man is my HERO!!! He also knows Dr. Herzing! And he also told me about the Society for Marine Mammalogy (which I am now a student member of!) and the biennial conference in Tampa that is at the end of November! And the crazy part about it? The online registration for the conference ends TODAY! So if I hadn't decided to go ask for Dr. Worthy's advice, I would've missed out and had to pay an extra $50 and register the day of the conference...so I definitely lucked out and it just goes along with the whole "everything happens for a reason!" :)

That's pretty much it...LIFE IS GOOD!

Triathlon Challenge: Day 11!

My lucky number, #11!!! :)


Today definitely started off well: went to spin class to knock off another 15 miles of biking for the Triathlon Cardio Challenge!
So now I have done:
1.2 miles of swimming
7.7 miles of running
30.0 miles of biking

Which means I have to do:
1.2 miles of swimming
18.5 miles of running
82 miles of biking
in the next 17 days! That means it's crunch time!!!

Tomorrow (10/14) I will run 4.4 miles
Saturday (10/15) I will run 3.1 miles
Sunday (10/16) I will run 3.1 miles and spin 15 miles
Monday (10/17) I will spin 15 miles
Tuesday (10/18) I will spin 15 miles
Wednesday (10/19) I will run 5.0 miles
Thursday (10/20) I will spin 15 miles
Friday (10/21) I will run 2.9 miles (DONE with running!)
Saturday (10/22)I will spin 15 miles
Sunday (10/23) I will swim 1.2 miles (DONE with swimming!)
Monday (10/24) I will spin 7 miles (DONE with biking!)
THEN I WILL HAVE COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE IN THREE WEEKS!!! :)

So I gotta keep on top of everything!
And...I GOT AN 85 ON MY MAMMALOGY EXAM!!!

It is yet another great day and once again I am SO thankful for everything that has been happening lately!
I will have an ACAT lab meeting tonight, and I just got a ton of things from the RAMP program that I will need to complete! But it's still exciting :) this is still the best semester EVER!!!

So now I'm going to get a little sentimental for a bit...
I can't say enough how thankful I am for my decision to move to Florida and come to UCF. There have been SO many opportunities for me out here that I'm pretty sure I couldn't have gotten anywhere else...so for me, UCF really does stand for opportunity :) I love Florida, I love Orlando, I love UCF! And my new anthem is the song "I Love This City!" Everything has fallen into place being out here and I'm so thankful for everything that I have been offered out here that will help me to achieve my dream life :) All I know is...I am staying here for grad school! Not necessarily "here" as in UCF, but definitely here in Florida!

Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day!!!

...I've got a beautiful feeeeeliiiin; everything's goin' my waaaaaay!!! :)

Pretty much the theme of the day!
I got to campus to try and table for KMWC but didn't know you needed a reservation, so instead I went to the gym :) pumped out 3.1 miles in 34 minutes! Not bad considering that I took a lot of time off this weekend! ;)

Anyway, the great things about today:
1) I turned in my first time sheet for RAMP! Gonna get paid soon ;)
2) The grad school fair was VERY insightful! A lot of information!!! Kinda overwhelming hahaha
3) Dr. Worthy has got the HOOK-UP for my future! He knows Dr. Colbert :)
4) The Disney Internship presentation was FANTASTIC!!! It was so nice finally getting to meet the intern coordinators behind the e-mails :)
5) The KMWC meeting room need extra chairs because we had so many people! SO AWESOME!!!

That's pretty much it for today :) Gonna get a little work done then take it easy for the night!
YAY YAY YAY!!!

Running behind...! Gotta get back on track ASAP!

All right, so far I've completed:
4.4 miles running
15 miles biking
1.2 miles swimming

This week hasn't started off as productive as last week but that will change! I was hoping to make it to spin class today, but the bake sale set-up went longer than I expected...but that's okay!
The plan for the rest of the week is:
Wed-Spin 7 miles (6:15am express class), 3.1 miles running
Thurs-Spin 15 miles (9am spin class)
Fri-Run 3.1 miles
Sat-Spin 15 miles
Sun-Run 3.1 miles (Race for the Cure!)

My legs are gonna be screaming again! But it's worth it :) I don't get my iPhone until I finish this triathlon cardio challenge...so the sooner the better!!!

Anyway, this weekend was fantastic! Jesse was here, we went to Halloween Horror Nights, we had awesome food (yay orange chicken!) and we started watching Dexter: Season 3...SOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to get all caught up for this season!

So the bake sale for KMWC was pretty successful! :) So proud of how everything has gone this year!

OH! And I met the Disney Internship Coordinator for the marine mammal internship when I was working on Friday! :) We talked for a good time and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get the internship after I graduate!!!

So that was pretty dang cool, and tomorrow we've got the KMWC Disney Internship presentation...how ironic, right?! :) DEFINITELY keeping my fingers crossed...!

Tri-Challenge: Day 3!

Before I get started with my Mammalogy cram session for the night, I figured I'd do my blog before I shut down my computer!

Today was pretty busy: worked in Dr. Worthy's lab from 9:30a-2pm
then I went swimming and did 44 laps (which is HALF of what I needed to complete the swimming! AWESOME!!!) I only  have 44 more laps left :) So luckily this one was a piece of cake! I ended up mainly just using the pull buoy though because my legs were killing me and tiring me out SO fast! I figured that's kinda like what a regular triathlon would be like though...with the running and biking, you gotta save your legs during the swimming, right?!
I've also decided that I do not get my upgrade to the iPhone until I complete the triathlon challenge (even though the new iPhone comes out on the 14th)...so that is even more motivation for me to finish faster!!!

Anyway...the KMWC meeting went well too! Things are moving along quite nicely for the club :) I'm so excited!

So that pretty much wraps it up for the day! So as of right now I have completed 4.4 miles of running, 15 miles of biking, and 44 laps/1.2 miles of swimming...awesome!!! I just need to keep it up now :)

All right, goodnight and I'll update again tomorrow! :)
Wish me LOTS of luck on my exam in the morning!!!

Tri-Challenge: Day 2

Today had some highs and some lows too. I could kinda tell it wasn't going to be a great day when my printer settings got messed up and ended up printing my notes out wrong for mammalogy...so anyway,
I'll start with the disappointing news...
1) I didn't make Homecoming Court
2) I got a 73% on my Tropical Ecology exam...definitely thought I got a B...
3) I'm more behind on my studying for Mammalogy that I would like to be
4) I have a Spanish presentation to do on Thursday and I'm NOT ready for it :(

So then the good stuff:
1) I woke up at 7:30 and had an awesome breakfast! A waffle and 2 links of apple-maple chicken sausage :)
2) I made it to spin class today! 15 miles down :)
3) I had enough leftover calories to treat myself to a bowl of Special K Chocolatey Delight Cereal :)

Anyway...that's pretty much it for today; I've gotta get cracking on my mammalogy flash cards

Triathlon Challenge: Day 1

I realized that I haven't really explained the whole Triathlon Challenge thing...
here's the deal:
We get one month (starting today) to complete a full triathlon:
*112 miles biking
*26.2 miles running
*and 2.4 miles swimming

My plan is for the first 2 weeks to complete 8.8 miles of running, 1 mile of swimming, and 37.5 miles for biking (each of the two weeks). Then, on week 3 I can take it a little bit easier (8.6 miles running, 0.4 miles swimming, and 37 miles biking). That way, I will complete the challenge one week before the end of the month (ironically...Homecoming week!)
So that's the deal, and I'm pretty pumped about this! That means if I attend 2 full spin classes (1 hour class = 15 miles biking) and one express spin class (7 miles), go to swim club once or twice a week, and run 4.4 miles (about 1 hour) 2 days a week, then this will be a "piece of cake..." to complete the challenge, not for my body haha
The reason that I'm doing this is not only because I would like to lose some weight and tone up a bit, but because my endurance is completely SHOT. I do not like getting winded as I'm walking up the three flights of stairs to my apartment...especially when I have to walk Buddy haha so this will force me to wake up early, get sh*t done, and have a healthier lifestyle! Plus...with all of the calories that I'm burning with the intense exercise, I get to splurge a bit on food ;)

All right!
So now that every one is all caught up, here is the daily dish:
Day 1 was a complete success!!! :)
Woke up at 6:30am, took Buddy for a walk, left for the gym (drinking my banana/mango smoothie on the way!), started running on the treadmill at 7:15a and finished right around 8:10a (after my cooldown and stretching)! I ended up making 3.1 miles in about 32 minutes, even with a 3 minute warm-up! So I consider that a pretty major success for my first day :) Getting ready for that Race for the Cure!
**Go Knights for Mammary Conservation!**

I came back home to clean up a bit and rewarded myself with an awesome second breakfast (just like the Navy days!) with an English muffin topped with a slice of bacon, colby jack cheese, and an egg!

I went back to campus and worked in Dr. Worthy's lab until around 2:45p, then had to do a quick study sesh for my Behavioral Modification class (I love this class...yes, I am in it right now haha but get this...our extra credit on our quiz was explaining how to reinforce a dog to sit...PetSmart job FTW!) Totally aced that quiz btw ;)

-Tomorrow my plan is to attend a 9am spin class (my crotch is going to be SO sore lol it always is after I haven't done a spin class in months...)
-Wednesday morning I will do a 1/2 mile swim (44 laps)
-Thursday I will do a night spin class at 6:45p (I would do the 9am one, but I need that time to study for Mammalogy before the exam!)
-Friday I will run another 4.4 miles
-Saturday I will take the day off because I'm going with Jesse, Brett, Desiree, and whoever else to Halloween Horror Nights!
-Sunday I will go to swim club again from 11a-1p...and maybe even get ahead on my mileage for swimming! ;)

I got my picture up on the PEBL poster now!

That's me in the bottom left corner of the undergrad students! YAY!!!
Now it's TOTALLY official ;) I got to start recording my hours to turn into the RAMP program so that way I can start getting PAID!!!

Also, I went to church yesterday and saw Caitie Corrigan (shout-out!)! Haven't seen her since practically freshman year so that was awesome!
And I did end up seeing Sam Tankersly (shout-out!) after my run this morning...she's going to be my mediator to make sure I don't slack off in the Tri-Challenge...right Sam?? ;)

Again, I just want to thank everybody for all of their support and love!
YALL ARE AWESOME!!! :)

I Count My Blessings (each and every day!)

I had my interview for Homecoming Court on Thursday, and it was INTENSE!!! There were 4 people interviewing me and I was NOT expecting that! I was sooo nervous and they could probably tell...haha but it was a lot of fun! I got to talk about KMWC and my experience here at UCF and how being here has helped me become the person that I am today :) I will hear back sometime this week if I made it onto the Homecoming Court or not...so nervous!

Also, check this out:

"Melyssa,
It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected from a group of qualified candidates into the Research and Mentoring Program for our pilot one year program for graduating Seniors."

AMAZINGNESS!!!


So I did end up officially getting my funding for the RAMP program (as you can see above)! Now I will be working in Dr. Worthy's PEBL lab and will get up to $2800 for the fall and spring semesters!!! I am SO lucky because this is the first year that they were offering this program to seniors!


Also...today I found out that my opportunities are expanding! Dr. Fiore sent this e-mail out to the CogSciLab and he actually mentions how I am contributing to the project!!!
"A significant portion of the discussion at our talk revolved around the animal-human communication...
One of our undergraduate RAs on this project, Melyssa Allen, is an avid researcher in this area (e.g., has interned with marine biologists and animal behaviorists). So Patsy and the grad students are working with her to develop a paper which explores this literature to examine the breadth and depth of ways that humans are able to communicate with animals."

Do you know what this means?! If we are able to carry out this literature review paper, MY NAME WILL
BE ON A PUBLISHED SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL ARTICLE!!! So freaking exciting!

Like the title of this entry says...I am counting my blessings each and every day!!!

The Triathlon Challenge starts on Monday...so I'm pretty excited! I've got my schedule planned out, so I really have to make sure I manage my time well for studying and work and lab work!!!

Although this has been my busiest semester with my hardest courseload...this has been the GREATEST semester ever so far!!! I really hope it keeps up that way!

I would really like to thank everyone for all of their support and encouragement! It wouldn't be easy for me to get through all of this without all of my amazing friends and family!!!
:)

So this is just for your entertainment...Buddy and his new squeaky football toy! As you can tell...
he doesn't like it at all ;)

There was also a baby-Buddy at work today! Just look at the similarity! She was SO precious!!!