diff --git a/run1000.sh b/run1000.sh
index 46325d9..58ee3bc 100644
--- a/run1000.sh
+++ b/run1000.sh
@@ -70,18 +70,22 @@ python -m scripts.tok_eval
 # which would decrease model performance. Possibly 2, 3 or so epochs is ~ok, but certainly not ideal and at 10+ epochs we'd
 # start to overfit hard.
 # 5) That's it, everything else (e.g. the learning rates) is adjusted automatically by the training script.
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.base_train -- --depth=32 --device_batch_size=8 --run=$WANDB_RUN
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.base_loss
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.base_eval
+
+# Number of processes/GPUs to use
+NPROC_PER_NODE=8
+
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.base_train -- --depth=32 --device_batch_size=8 --run=$WANDB_RUN
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.base_loss
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.base_eval
 
 # midtrain
 # NOTE: ensure that we use the same device_batch_size here as the base training script.
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.mid_train -- --device_batch_size=8 --run=$WANDB_RUN
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i mid
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.mid_train -- --device_batch_size=8 --run=$WANDB_RUN
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i mid
 
 # sft
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_sft -- --run=$WANDB_RUN
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i sft
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.chat_sft -- --run=$WANDB_RUN
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i sft
 
 # generate final report
 python -m nanochat.report generate
diff --git a/speedrun.sh b/speedrun.sh
index 32c8870..7955ec5 100644
--- a/speedrun.sh
+++ b/speedrun.sh
@@ -82,12 +82,15 @@ python -m scripts.tok_eval
 echo "Waiting for dataset download to complete..."
 wait $DATASET_DOWNLOAD_PID
 
+# Number of processes/GPUs to use
+NPROC_PER_NODE=8
+
 # pretrain the d20 model
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.base_train -- --depth=20 --run=$WANDB_RUN
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.base_train -- --depth=20 --run=$WANDB_RUN
 # evaluate the model on a larger chunk of train/val data and draw some samples
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.base_loss
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.base_loss
 # evaluate the model on CORE tasks
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.base_eval
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.base_eval
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Midtraining (teach the model conversation special tokens, tool use, multiple choice)
@@ -97,15 +100,15 @@ torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.base_eval
 curl -L -o $NANOCHAT_BASE_DIR/identity_conversations.jsonl https://karpathy-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/identity_conversations.jsonl
 
 # run midtraining and eval the model
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.mid_train -- --run=$WANDB_RUN
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i mid
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.mid_train -- --run=$WANDB_RUN
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i mid
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Supervised Finetuning (domain adaptation to each sequence all by itself per row)
 
 # train sft and re-eval right away (should see a small bump)
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_sft -- --run=$WANDB_RUN
-torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i sft
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.chat_sft -- --run=$WANDB_RUN
+torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i sft
 
 # chat with the model over CLI! Leave out the -p to chat interactively
 # python -m scripts.chat_cli -p "Why is the sky blue?"
@@ -118,9 +121,9 @@ torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i sft
 # (optional)
 
 # run reinforcement learning
-# torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_rl -- --run=$WANDB_RUN
+# torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.chat_rl -- --run=$WANDB_RUN
 # eval the RL model only on GSM8K
-# torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=8 -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i rl -a GSM8K
+# torchrun --standalone --nproc_per_node=$NPROC_PER_NODE -m scripts.chat_eval -- -i rl -a GSM8K
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Generate the full report by putting together all the sections