Try some cloth pads, they won't give as much glide as plastic pads. Many says that the QcK series are really good, I never had one so dunno about that, but I use the 5L, which also a cloth pad and it's just simply awesome.
I might try that. Doesn't really bother me that it slowed down so much, I'm just saying for OP's sake that its not a bad option if you want a slow pad and don't mind having to break it in for a couple of weeks.
The reason I say that is because I find the Talent wears down the least, if not at all. I find other pads can wear down pretty quickly, but a mouse with hyperglides on a Talent seems to not wear it down.