I don't think that a Garmin is accurate enough for him to fix a problem like that. It might work okay for learning what sort of efforts translate into different paces for easy and recovery runs, but what he needs are track intervals at a specific, not-all-out pace. 400m repeats with a spot check every 100-200m repeated ad nauseum is the best way to learn to pace anything up to a 3200m or even 5k. For example, aiming to hit 18-19 seconds at the 100m mark, 37-38 seconds at the 200m, 56-57 seconds at the 300m and then coming through the 400m around 75 seconds. Full recovery (~2-3 minutes of light jogging) and repeat 4-12 times depending upon fitness. When I got to college we'd do 20-28 repeats w/75-90 seconds rest at ~70-72 per, with the last mile of them at around 62-65 seconds. I learned that pace really well after a season of that every 2-3 weeks. The trick is to not go all out, and if you run too fast then your coach (or yourself) needs to call you out on it and make sure you are going at the right pace. For a 2:10 800m, 74-75 seconds is probably a good pace to be doing those at.

Thanks, Blaine! I printed out your reply and gave it to him. Where did you go to college? How did you decide on it? There are too many choices!

I went to RIT (Rochester NY) and my decision making process was simple. I applied to Georgia Tech, MIT, WPI, RIT, Muhlenberg and Lehigh, got accepted to all of them (except Lehigh since my guidance counciler told me the application deadline was 2 months later than it was and I only turned my app in a month earlier than the date I had been given - they put me on the top of the waiting list). My decision was purely financial since I had to pay my own way through college - WPI gave me the biggest financial aid package, but RIT cost enough less to be the most cost effective. Thankfully, RIT was also my first choice for where to go, so everything worked out well.

RIT...Brick City baby...brick city in lovely Rochester.