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Pausing directly after start of a run

Hi there,
On my forerunner 620 I had it once in a while (right at the start of a race :( ), but with my new 235 I have it every single run...

I get a gps ready signal, wait some more to be sure gps is fine.
I start my run, and almost directly it pauses for a few seconds, and starts again after that pause.
the rest of the run there is no problem.

Anyone else has this?
  • I presume in the above scenario Auto-pause was off?
    That is correct.

    So are we saying that if auto-pause is off, in a scenario where you lose the GPS and are relatively still, the watch will over-estimate distance and when auto-pause is on it will under-estimate, as it has to wait for a GPS lock?


    I don't know about that. If the overriding behaviour of the FR230/235 is to assume the runner is continuing at the last observed pace when GPS signal is lost, then auto-pause may not actually be triggered even when enabled.

    Now you have got me thinking about whether it is just using an average pace as you state.
    No, it uses the last known instantaneous/current pace, as far as I can tell, and not lap pace or (overall) average pace.

    Was it waiting for a GPS lock after pausing?
    I doubt it. The thing is that determination of the current pace, at least on the FR235, is susceptible to some lag – and current pace is the basis by which auto-pause will determine whether the criterion for pausing (including both ‘When Stopped’ and numeric threshold based) or resuming is met. It is susceptible to the same degree of lag under open skies (and with GPS already working fine as you run) when determining if you have stopped.

    Must say, I don't get Auto-pause. When I'm out on a training run and I'n crossing the road I don't worry about 10 secs delay.
    Try running in Sydney CBD (and there are surprising many office workers who run through the city – usually on their way to the nearby parklands – before work, during the lunch hour and after work), and we're talking potentially 90-second pauses every 150 or 200 metres for some streets.

    It's a training run and I'm not going flat out so why worry about a slight delay, you're still getting the miles in.
    For my own purposes, I agree, but then it messes up Average Pace and Lap Pace calculations for runners who rely on those as primary metrics for guidance.

    I guess where the watch is concerned people may want to use the feature. I thought it was useful however to point out the odd (?) behaviour that I was experiencing with delay in timer restart when GPS lock is lost which can be significant in terms of some of the recorded data such as time and distance. In my view Garmin should look at this but not put it at the top of their list of things to fix!
    I've suggested using cadence instead of pace/speed as the trigger for auto-pause and auto-resume, at least for running. I think it's safe to assume that if I'm not taking steps then I've paused/stop my running, even if (for a far-fetched example scenario) I've stepped onto an outdoors escalator or conveyor which keeps my body physically moving along.
  • OK, I performed a few more experiments today

    So are we saying that if auto-pause is off, in a scenario where you lose the GPS and are relatively still, the watch will over-estimate distance and when auto-pause is on it will under-estimate, as it has to wait for a GPS lock?


    Then I went under an underpass and lost GPS. This caused the watch to pause. This also happened again when in a built up part of town, whereas previously I hadn't noticed any issues. Note, I was walking when this happened. GPS loss seems to trigger a pause.
    Not for me.

    See https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1099260760. (For reference, the blue line in this annotated route map approximately indicates the path I actually took.) The straight diagonal line section shows you the when the GPS signal was lost (at the bottom of the escalators near BOQ, around time-point 0:48) and when it was regained (near the corner of Pitt and Goulburn Streets). Auto-pause When Stopped was enabled, but was not triggered by loss of GPS signal (until time-point 4:49 when I manually paused and resumed the workout – at which point the pace was assumed to be nil briefly, thus triggering auto-pause). Also note that I was in a shop inspecting, selecting and then paying for something, between time-points 1:35 and 3:38 – hence the stretches of zero cadence – and auto-pause was not triggered by my standing still then either. If you look at the Splits, Lap #2 supposedly has a distance of 0.46km, but the distance of the diagonal across that city block (World Square) is only about 0.15km.

    Behaviour without auto-pause being active is that if you lose the GPS then the timer keeps going and when the GPS kicks back in the distance is added on. E.g. if I had recorded an elapsed 1km and I walked through a 0.2 km underpass, when I get to the outside again and GPS is detected the watch will re-establish its position and add on the 0.2 km and show 1.2km.
    Nope.

    See https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1098955061. Lap #2 was my attempt to estimate the distance between where the markers (1) and (2) are on the map; the locations of the markers are reasonable accurate on the map, but the zigzag line in red was not an accurate representation of the path I took, because I simply walked up the pedestrian strip on the same side of the street under open skies between those two points. (The blue line in this annotated route map is a more accurate representation.) Now, if the zigzag line has a distance of 0.58km, then the distance of a straight line between the two markers has to be less than 0.58km.

    Then see https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1099260668. This time I travelled in the reverse direction, but ducked into the department store and then went underground into the subterranean walkway so as to lose the GPS signal; you can see by the long straight red line section where GPS signal was lost and when it was regained. (See the blue line in this annotated route map for the actual path taken for Lap #2.) You can see the distance of Lap #2 is showing as 1.18km, which would be an significant exaggeration of even the blue line, let alone the straight red line section.

    Auto-pause was disabled for both of those walks.
  • My watch started pausing today just after I pressed button to start it. Could not get it going again. 

  • Yes this happens to me on my vivo active 3! I have tried in with auto pause on and with it off and this issue still occurs either way! It's strange that it would occur when the auto pause is off but it does. Any fixes found yet?