I agree that M&M kinda missed the mark with this latest podcast (especially jmar). They argue that there is not one magical pace that will get you really fit. Well, duh. I don't think ANY real coaches think there is ONE pace that is the magic bullet, including Tinman and CV pace. Tinman prescribes all kinds of paces, but CV is a staple he uses at last once every week or two.
What some coaches do think, is that some paces are better than others. For example, Daniels would say you are best off doing 10 x 400m (2min rest) at your mile race pace (R pace). For a speed/running economy workout (R workout) he strongly feels that mile pace with a 1:2 work to rest ratio is the way to go. He would say that running 2 seconds faster than mile pace would NOT give you extra benefits even if you are capable of executing that workout. It will make you more tired, but will not elicit superior adaptations.
So a Daniels coach would have his 5k athlete running the vast majority of his quality sessions at either Tempo, Interval, or Repetition pace - all strictly defined paces or zones.
M&M really did not focus on that philosophy. They focused on shooting down the magic bullet philosophy which only an idiot would believe in anyway.