the week:
I hit my 30-day countdown point for my marathon training. I also got my first marathon reminder email this week. So… EEEEEEEEEK.

weekend:
This weekend I’m running the Akron Marathon Relay with a few friends. It’s my first relay, and I’m running leg 3 (the leg with the “hill”), which is 5.5 miles (I also need to run 18 total miles for my long run this week). I’m already experiencing a good amount of anxiety about the race because relay-ing seems so complicated because of its many moving (ahem, running) parts. And how the heck do I get to my starting point? Do I *have* to line up at 7 a.m. with everyone else?

If you’re in Pittsburgh, the Great Race (aka: the Great Big Clusterfuck) is happening on Sunday.

52 books in 52 weeks:
I happened to start two different 400-page books this week, so I’m not finishing anything soon (but both stories are SO GOOD). One is a work of fiction, which I haven’t included in my reading for a while.

seven things, seven days:
1. I started two applications for grad programs, and I have two open houses on my calendar. Highly motivated to start graduate school in early 2016.
2. My new on-site, day-to-day manager is two floors below my current office (no clue if that will eventually change), so I’m getting a lot of stairs in.
3. Reality TV is one of my guilty pleasures, and no matter how much Bachelor in Paradise annoyed me, I still watched and rolled my eyes incessantly. Read: Misattribution in Paradise {via Science of Relationships}
4. Speaking of TV, how do you feel about the season openers of Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder? Me: MEH.
5. How to be mentally tough: lessons from sports psychologists {via Today}
6. What’s the source of success in sports? A great listen from NPR.
7. Not there yet, but almost time to taper (and 11 fears you experience while tapering for a marathon). {via Women’s Running} I legit nearly cried from fear when I read this article.