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Heathpack. I really like your pre-riding of the course for race preparation. It dramatically improves execution which may result in an incremental gain. For example, some believe that one can ride their road bike or fixed gear on the road and show up at the track and execute. Well, that may be true for them but they give up a competitive advantage to those who actually practice at the track.
As far as doing better due to planning, unfortunately, as you know since you read "Faster", racing is about the ability to smash the pedals. He/she who smashes the pedals the hardest for the measured distance usually wins. Where that can break down is that each year, we must find incremental gains just to keep up assuming the same level of pedal smashing. This is how the old school guys lose sight of why it is important to cover every detail. As time marches on even the great pedal smashers are going to be over taken by incremental gains due to technology, execution and planning unless they keep pace.
And you are doing both so keep it up.
As far as teaming in TTT with stronger riders, I think it can work but it is very tricky. The goal in a TTT or team pursuit is to have the stronger rider take longer pulls and the less strong rider take shorter pulls plus the line up i.e. order is critical. What can happen in practice is the stronger rider fails to execute and rides too hard blowing up the less strong riders. I have several first hand experiences with this. The other aspect is that when one is going harder due to a stronger rider, the team must have excellent execution. Each racer is exactly where they are supposed to be and if there is even a slight acceleration, racers can be blow up. Then the team has to regroup and it loses time.
In reality, it is impossible to have all the team members with the same ability. So racers who are great partners for team events are also A. reliable, B. can execute according to a plan and C are willing and able to practice.
So do not be concerned with the mismatch either that you are too strong or she is too strong because that can be managed with practice. Of course, if the fitness levels are way off then it will not work.
Here is a team pursuit finals from 2015 elite nationals track. I know all the racers in the winning team and they are not equal in racing ability and or age. One is a sprinter and another a great pursuit specialist. Yet, they look like they are perfectly matched. They practice a lot together and have honed this team. Amazing execution.