Intervals & Fenix

The best way to do this is to use a pre-programmed interval workout as you've indicated. You would configure the workout in Garmin Connect, and then transfer the workout data to your Fenix/Fenix2 via Garmin Express. If this doesn't work, then you should probably spend some time trying to figure out what is going on there. It should be possible, given that this video shows a user transferring a workout over using the classic Garmin Connect and the Garmin Communicator Plugin.

Even if you can't transfer workouts from Garmin Connect, you should also be able to create workouts directly on the device. I can't find anything in the documentation that indicates the workout menu is there though I know it has been there since firmware version 4.00. So there is that option.

If none of this works for you, you can still do the workout manually. It doesn't require all of the button presses you're mentioning above. Essentially, what you need to do is add LTIME, LAP DIST, LLAP TIME, and LLAP DIST. The LLAP fields can be used to see what the time/distance was for your previous lap, and the LAP fields will tell you how you're doing on the current one. To start your workout, press the Start/Stop button (the one on the top-right). Every time you start or finish an interval step, press the Lap button (the one on the bottom-right), and when you're done, press the Start/Stop button. This will track the time/distance of your interval steps as well as the time/distance of your recovery steps.

Travis