A 3-mile run: perfect amount of time to process your day.

A 5-mile run: perfect amount of time to process your day and daydream.

An 8-mile run: perfect amount of time to process your day, daydream, and, as your legs tire, wonder why you thought taking on a half-marathon was such a good idea, anyway.

As the length of your training runs increase, an odd algorithm can happen: Your boredom level can go up, while your enthusiasm nosedives. Your steps feel the same (hard and slow), but your Garmin can’t emit its one-mile-is-up beep fast enough. Here are some great ways to kill the time—and the miles:

Plenty to look at, um, I mean talk about on the Bravo line-up.

• A good girlfriend to run with you. Use the time as a healthy happy hour (or two) to relive bad dates, talk about family drama, gossip about the “Real Housewives,” and otherwise laugh and connect.

• If you don’t have one girlfriend who can cover all the miles, line up one or two to go a few miles with you. Figure out an easy place and time to meet her in your route. If there’s a choice, opt to have somebody join you toward the end, when you might be dragging, instead of the fresh-out-of-the-gate start of your run.

• Don’t retrace those steps; try a new route instead. Go to mapmyrun.com or America’s Running Routes on USA Track + Field site for tried-and-true suggestions from other runners in your area.

• Tackle a trail; the twists and turns will make you feel like you’re in a video game and the time will fly by. If you need a recommendation for a route, check here or ask for suggestions at a local running or outdoor shop. Because trails are physically more taxing than running on pavement, run for time instead of miles. If an 8-mile run usually takes you roughly an hour and a half on pavement, run for 90 minutes on trails and don’t worry about how much distance you covered.

• Download a book onto your iPod. Although it may seem like the gothic twists of Cathy and Heathcliff’s doomed love might not fire you up, you’ll actually get lost in the story and the miles will tick by. Many public libraries offer free book downloads, or check out this site for a bunch of links to ebooks.

• Not up for committing to a whole book? Try a free podcast, which can range from the serious (60 Minutes) to the compelling (This American Life) to the mother runnery (Another Mother Runner Radio) Not sure where to start? Try this tutorial from iTunes.
  
  

  Sure, in the number one song of 1987, the Bangles walked like Egyptians...but the real question is, can they run?

• If you’re on a busy route, play road-trip games, either by yourself or with a running pal. Anybody who can remember all 26 letters of the picnic game (“I’m going on a picnic, and bringing apples, bananas, corn on the cob, doughnuts, edamame…”) gets to stop running a mile early. Just kidding.

• Create a special memory-evoking playlist, like songs from your high school career or the number one hits from each year of your life. Not only will you know every lyric, but you’ll also relive some past experiences as you trot along. Another option: the full score of a Broadway musical. As long as you don’t start singing along, nobody else has to know you’re grooving to Donny Osmond in “Joseph and the Amazing Technical Dreamcoat.”