Workout screen (how to edit?)

I just wish they would stop changing it with different watches. I’ve owned four Garmin over the years and it’s changed with each one. 

405 - average pace

Fenix 2 - instant pace

645 - average pace

955 - instant pace

With average pace I could set much tighter parameters without getting constant alerts, e.g. for 7:00 minute pace I could use 6:57 - 7:03. With instant pace I need to widen the parameters or the alerts are just too frequent. I will say, however, that instant pace has improved greatly since the Fenix 2 when I’d have to use 6:30 - 7:30 for 7:00 pace. With the 955 I can now use 6:50 - 7:10, which I can live with. 

I couldn't agree more, I'm really wondering why they are changing the meaning of the target for different watches. That is approaching stupid, even from software engineering viewpoint. I can only guess that software teams of different watch families have had too much individual freedom to choose... But I think all current watches use instant pace now.

My impression has been that there have been (at least) two kinds of wishes here: One is what the "pace target" should be (average lap pace, instant pace, or something else).

Another has been whether the workout screen data fields should be user selectable. I have nothing against it either, and have often wished that was the case. ... But again, I'm not sure it's that simple either (sorry, I always come up with problems). I think we agree (most of us, anyway) that the primary topmost data field on the workout screen should be the target data field, if the workout step has a target.

But even now, what the secondary data fields show depend on what the target data field is. So, where should the secondary data fields be configurable? When creating the workout, for each workout step separately? (Most flexible, but quite complicated to use and probably to implement as well.) Or allow the user to set the secondary data fields for each activity type? That's probably most realistic to have, but even then people would complain that they want to customize it differently based on what other data fields are visible on the workout screen.

My personal suggestion is probably this: Garmin should create a new standard data fields "workout step target", and variants with dials (like they already have for HR, power, etc.), which could be added to any data screen. Then users could create as many normal custom data screens as they want, and include workout-based data fields that look like on the workout screen. Would that make you happy?

I’ve always found the default workout screen useless so don’t use it and don’t even know what it shows. My go to custom screen for workouts nowadays is two fields, Step Duration and Step Pace. Step Duration counts down to zero whether it’s distance or time remaining. Step Pace isn’t as useful as it’s just a duplicate of Lap Pace. If there was an option for Step Goal I’d probably add that as a third field. 

I did the suggested workout on the watch after work yesterday, it was 48 mins steady running. Where I live there was a yellow weather warning for wind yesterday so my route was pretty much 25 mins straight into a strong wind & then 25 mins with the wind at my back. I'm sure you can guess the outcome, much beeping about being too slow on the first half & much beeping about being too fast on the 2nd! Overwall my average pace was not too far off the workout target however, just marginally faster.