Do custom alerts work during workouts?

You have to create a custom workout, using the Garmin Express online app.

From the manual, "Alerts that you have set for a workout have precedence over custom alerts set on the watch. When you are using the workout feature, any custom alerts you have created that are not part of the workout will not alert. Once you have stopped the workout, and either discarded or saved the activity, your custom alerts will resume as normal."

One can set alerts within a custom workout created with the Garmin Express online app.

This is one of the more frustrating things I find with workouts...alerts such as "drink" or 'eat' are no longer shown...nor are max or min HR ranges, etc.  I can think of a bunch of use-cases where I would want those even in a scheduled workout, but I can't think of a lot where it makes sense that they are disabled.

I've never used a "drink" or "eat", whether within, or not, in a workout.  But I did have a problem with missed HR targets not alerting.  I learned today that alerts can be set in custom workouts that are created on the online Garmin Express app. (I haven't yet confirmed whether they work.)

The most disappointing thing I find about the alerts is that when they go off, they don't continuously go off.  This is important for a HR alert, particularly during an intense interval workout.  When the High HR alert is triggered, it will wait several seconds before it goes off again (assuming the HR has not come back into the desired range).  If the HR continues to drift higher, there will come a point where the intermittent alert signal doesn't even alert anymore.  Thus, the user needs to keep manually checking the watch face to see where and which direction (up or down) his heart rate his going.  In essence, the purpose of the alert, in that case, becomes ineffective, unless the alert were to continuously and uninterruptedly keep going off until the HR is brought back into the desired range.    But in the case of a 'eat' alert, I suppose that would. get annoying if the alert continuously alerted.  Thus, maybe a distinction as to whether the user wants 'continuous' alerts or 'intermittent' alerts (once the target is out-of-range) should be provided for.

My experience with pace and HR alerts are that I get 3 out of range alerts, roughly 15 seconds apart, before they stop. But they will resume when the next segment/lap starts.

I prefer this to when they go off constantly throughout a run. Actually what was best was the way pace alerts worked on the FR10. You set a pace and if you wandered more than something like 10 seconds/mile above or below that range it tell you and then shut up about until you got back into range. If you were having a good day it’d let you go about your business, and if you were having a bad day it wouldn’t rub it in.

I wish to post a follow-up.  I've gotten more familiar with the watch and its 'ecosystem' since my previous post.  I've learned how to create a workout with Garmin's online app.  That is necessary in order to be able to have HR alerts go off when performing an Interval workout.  Thus, one can set a target HR zone, and unbeknownst to me previously, the watch will display a 'pointer', and that particular display makes it a whole lot easier (with just a quick glance) for one to see where they are (and where they are going) relative to their target HR zone.  Consequently, using that watch face, having consistent continual vibration/audible alarms when out-of-zone are not as important.

"...if you were having a bad day it wouldn’t rub it in."  If one's "bad day" is being excessively out of target range, then IMO, it is not "rubbing it in" for the watch to incessantly try and get them back in the target zone, until they are in it. 

It can be a bit demoralizing when during a hard effort you are unable to keep your HR up into the zone.  Usually cause of fatigue from previous workouts or just tired in general.  Similar to when you do the Lactate Threshold test and it keeps raising the HR range over the 4 and 3minute intervals... until it is up into the 90+%... often by then I am unable to maintain pace or increase pace to get it into the range (or barely make it to the bottom of range)!  If it is warm or inside workouts the heat can sure help push it up though!   

I think the nice red/green dial graph is a quick easy reference in addition to the beeping.  under duress in a workout sometime I think it would be better if the out of range sections were blue and red...  sometimes I get confused if I am high or low on pace/HR.  To me Red indicates too hard/fast... not too easy/slow.  I don't use the feature enough to have it ingrained in me yet, so when rippin hard during a workout I can get confused. lol