I normally use the auto pause feature on My Garmin 830 during races and time trials to guarantee my recording will start when the race starts. I don’t want to be fumbling with my Garmin at the start line, especially in TTs. I’d like to be able to create a workout with power targets and use the workout screen for pacing during time trials.
Is there a way to enable autopause during a workout, or alternately to use the workout screen with power targets without starting a workout?
BB
I hate auto pause. It complicates any review of the workout files and it throws away data during pauses. I like to see my heart rate recovery during stops.
Instead of auto-pause you can do a couple other things. First of all, it doesn’t matter if you start recording 5 minutes before the start of your race and keep recording for a few minutes after. It’s easy to ignore or to trim off the extra time. It will be obvious in the data exactly when your race started and finished.
Pros look so dumb when some of them immediately reach for the stop button as they are hitting the finish line. You just did a 4 hour race, pose for the photos and stop your computer a few hundred feet later. You won’t even see a difference in IF, NP, etc.
For your desire to have the power pacing during the race: first of all, outside of draft-illegal TTs, you can’t really plan it out like that; you have to react to your competition to stay in the draft. So there’s no point in that case, it’s mainly a tool for training, not racing.
Secondly, if you want to use the power guidance, I would still start the data recording before the race start, then load up the power guidance and hit go on that at the race start. Or start the guidance and immediately pause the guidance/workout, which you can do on Wahoo and it doesn’t pause the recording, only the time counter for the intervals. I think Garmin works the same.
You can use the auto start feature. Once you start moving, the activity starts. You don’t have to worry about forgetting to hit start or pause.
You just have to remember not to power it on top soon before the race start.
I also don’t use auto pause. I just let it run all the time (unless I know the stop will be extra long like a casual coffee stop or something).
My suggestion might be to set up a workout that has the following laps:
Lap 1 - Power doesn’t matter but have the time be ‘stop on lap’
Lap 2 - Race target power, also ‘stop on lap’
That way you can start the workout as you go up to the line. then on the line hit the lap button a couple seconds before the start to start the ‘Race lap’. Having the Garmin running a workout on the start line also avoids the common and super annoying issue of having your headunit time out and turn off right before your start.
You can then analyze your TT stats based on the ‘race lap’.
Thanks for the reasons I shouldn’t do the thing I’m asking how to do. Anyone have any ideas on how to do the thing I want to do?
FWIW, I’m been racing and using a Garmin for 13 years. I am simply trying to use my Garmin in a way that it doesn’t seem to want to be used and I’m hoping someone has a workaround.
I did give advice on how to do it in addition to my advice that it’s not worth the worry. 
Also, there are other people reading (now and later) that might read what I wrote and decide not to use auto-pause.