What is it about runners and cyclists that makes us so keen on tracking every mile — every hundredth of a mile to be exact — while factoring out the time we paused for a water break or a stoplight? Pardon the analogy from a former farm girl, but it’s kind of like separating the chaff from the kernels of wheat. You want the good stuff, the real training time, to show up in your history data. But you don’t want to have to think about it, as in punch a timer button, during your ride or run. Here’s where Forerunner and Edge save the day with the Auto Pause feature. Basically, you set up your unit to automatically pause the training timer when you drop below a speed you specify. When you speed up, the timer will automatically restart. Under the Forerunner main menu, select training\training options\auto pause\auto timer pause. From the pull-down menu, select either “when stopped” or “custom pace,” which lets you select a specific pace. From the Edge main menu, select training\auto pause/lap\auto timer pause. Again, from the pull-down menu, select the stopped or custom speed option. Setting it to “when stopped” is particularly helpful for mountain bikers who may encounter lots of speed variances on tough climbs, but don’t want Auto Pause to kick in every time. Another tip: if your riding partner for the day happens to be a 4-year-old who makes frequent stops to pet puppies or pick up rocks … just turn off the Auto Pause. The training can wait for the next ride. 

Comments

[Peg]

John,
Good to know there are other data-driven geeks out there. Great point on the few seconds of gain you may get with Auto Pause over start/stop. Apparently, my forgetful nature (we'll just call it "getting lost in my running or cycling habit") tends to get in the way of restarting the timer if I don't use Auto Pause!

Keep up your pursuit of your passion and thanks for being a loyal Garmin customer.

Peg

[John]

Peg, good tips. As a long-time runner and former owner of the Garmin Forerunner 201, 205 and now a very satisfied user of a 305, I personally don't use the auto-pause function because I'm a data-driven geek too keen on tracking every mile and second.

The auto-pause is a great feature, but I find you gain a couple of seconds over the course of a run when you use it. I prefer to use the start/stop button instead, because at my age I can't afford to get any slower :-)