Welcome to the TR community!
As my gym teacher used to say, “The only person you’re cheating is yourself.”
If you’re pausing mid-interval, then we’d say you’re not completing the workout as prescribed. If you paused for 10 seconds because your legs were flooded going up a climb with a peloton, the peloton would fly off into the distance without you.
We’d recommend marking your Post-Workout Survey as “All Out” if you have to pause during an interval due to the intensity. That feedback will let TR know that the workout was too hard and to make adjustments to your upcoming workouts.
That will also then help TR/Adaptive Training get you further dialed into the right workouts for where your fitness is currently at so you can continue to progress with appropriately challenging workouts. 