Bug in the interval workout screen with "pace" as target. The watch doesn't use instant pace.

I'm pretty sure on both the 935 and the Fenix 5+ it used Instant pace in the workout screen. It would be nice if I could have the option to select which one it used. For a road workout or specific types of training the instant pace is far more useful. For a trail run where I am doing lots of uphill/downhill variation, it would be nice to use step pace. 

In reality in the screen it was not written "step pace" but simply "pace", that is the equivalent of "instant pace". So this could be a firmware bug that in the "workout screen" , when using pace as target, in the gauge field it was using "gps instant pace" instead than "footpod instant pace", even if in the menu settings I had "speed from footpod = always". @Roland can you add this in the firmware bug list?

This screen and the workout handling overall is a pretty mess. I once asked Garmin for an explanation but they were not able to give one. Simple questions asked: which arrow displays what and what source is causing the pace alarms? Especially when using a footpod.

Did a test with connected Stryd and it was pretty clear that pace alarms are caused by GPS pace and not footpod pace as one would suggest would be reasonable when this is connected via Always/Always.

It's a pity because the graphic of the pace gauge is very nice. But next time I will use pace alert of the CIQ app Gait Coach: with my Runscribe pod I can set a low alert limit and hight alert limit and it beeps with instant footpod pace.

Gps instant pace of FR945 is quite good for long runs, but for intervals is too smoothed and too slow to react to be useful.

What Garmin could deliver  more is that I can set different speed alert for every interval, with Gait Coach I can set only one high speed alert and only one low speed alert. Good if the intervals are all the same type (for example 10x400 meters), but not good if I have to do intervals of different lenghts (for example 3x1 km + 4x400 m)

Sounds interesting. But if this Gait Coach app does not integrate with the workout feature, it is not of big help as you pointed out.

The workout feature is one of the main reasons, I stay with Garmin even though the integration with the alarms and sources is flawed.

But it should be easy to fix for Garmin (as many other things also):

- Explain how it works and what the sources are

- Use the correct sources for the alarms and displays

E.g. I am 100% sure that the pace alarm is based on a rolling average of X seconds and X does not start at an interval. Means: I am always slow when I start into a fast interval as the rolling average is constructed out of the jogging interval before combined with the fast started interval. BUT: it is my assumption, no explanation from Garmin.

If the pace alarm is a rolling average of X seconds and X does not start at an interval, this is  a big problem for short intervals. For example I start the 400 m from a stationary state, so for the first 100 m the watch is showing a pace much slower than real instant pace (for example if I'm running 3:45min/km it shows 5min/km). This is very dangerous because if I look at the pace of the watch, I would try to run too fast and then I will probably not complete the interval because I will get too tired. The watch begins to give good value only at the end of the interval, but it is too late.

On the other hand when I switch to another page with instant pace of the footpod Runscribe, instant pace is correct from the beginning.

I like very much the workout feature, but in this state I use it only to remember what interval I have to do and how many intervals I have done. But it is not useful to guide me in pacing myself correctly.

This is a big problem, and I think that before introducing the "running power" as a target  in the workout screen, Garmin should at least make it work correctly with pace as a target.

Actually, I have given up hope, that it will be fixed any time. This behavior is more or less the same, I had a 910XT, Fenix 3, 935 and now 945 and it is not fixed. My guess is that the colleague at the support who got my mail did not even understand what I meant why I asked him, what the source of the pace alarms is. 

Btw, also the 910XT did not get pace alarms from footpod source when GPS was active. I once calibrated the footpod (Garmin then) to an absurd value and pace alarms were still in the range I specified -> GPS.

What a pity!!!

Garmin-Blake can you help?

Probably with the FR945 it's worse than FR935 because instant pace of FR945 Is more smoothed than instant pace of FR935. So we have now a x-seconds rolling average of a much smoothed instant pace

I fully agree with you, for pace-based workouts, the instant pace needs to be the one that the watch warns you about if too slow or to fast. The step pace is not et all useful. I also think that the instant pace would be ok for intervals, of course, not as accurate as a footpod, but good enough for me (if instant pace would be taken).

Same problem with my Fenix 5 Plus, I wrote to Garmin, let's see what they say.

I am not so sure about the pace alarm. To me, the pace alarm is based on what is shown on the gauge. Which is, to me, the step pace as Mirko_Italy is saying. At the end of a 30min step with a goal pace, I had a difference of 30s between instant pace and what was shown on the gauge.