This is a good point. Personally, I should be fine keeping up with the reading, however, I’m unlikely to be doing anything beyond that (ie posting).
In general for the pace, I like it. It’s easy to catch up if you get behind eg over holidays. With that in mind, I think maybe we don’t need to create a break. If there are a couple of weeks where the forum is not as active as usual, that’s fine. People can discuss whatever they did read after the new year and the pace should allow anyone who won’t have much time to catch up after the holidays (or get ahead before them) without too much stress.