I actually think the average pace thing is possibly even counter productive for that reason. When the column was up there, I would always notice whenever my average pace dropped a bit due to a slow run or two. I would think about it. I don't think is too helpful because average weekly pace doesn't (in my opinion) mean a damn thing. It's particularly counter-productive if it starts makes you concerned with the pace of your every day runs or -- even worse -- motivating you to run them any faster. That's pointless in running outside of a speed workout.

When I first started training with a Garmin, I very quickly learned to set up a screen that did not show any pace or splits. Just distance, time of day, and possibly heart rate or GPS accuracy or some other such field. This is what I use for my everyday runs. It allows me to relax on a training run and just concentrate on form.

Whenever I used to have the "last lap" split on there, I would invariably start noticing it and pick up the pace without even realizing I was doing it. Perhaps the rest of you are immune to that but I am not.