Pondering the Beginner Pete Plan

[Rowan McSheen]

Good grief Dalos, that puts into context everyone else's occasional slow or lethargic can't-be-bothered days. I admire your optimism and wish you success in getting to the bottom of it.

Mandatory and optional sessions of week 11 completed so onwards and upwards.

[Foursquare]

Bought a C2 and started rowing. Did one 5000m. 23:30 at 33 spm. Arms were tied. I’m 40, male, 6 ft. 205 lbs. did some googling and realized I was going too fast and needed a plan. Found the Pete plan, so here we go:

Day 1 : 5000m 22:45. 21 spm
Day 2 : 6 x 500m intervals ranged from 1:55 to 2:04. 23-27 spm. Back a little sore, as is my neck, which is strange.

[Dangerscouse]

Bought a C2 and started rowing. Did one 5000m. 23:30 at 33 spm. Arms were tied. I’m 40, male, 6 ft. 205 lbs. did some googling and realized I was going too fast and needed a plan. Found the Pete plan, so here we go:

Day 1 : 5000m 22:45. 21 spm
Day 2 : 6 x 500m intervals ranged from 1:55 to 2:04. 23-27 spm. Back a little sore, as is my neck, which is strange.

Far better result when you understood the technique involved, well done

A sore neck is a bit strange, but you might be hunching your shoulders? Lower or upper back is sore? If it's lower, you might be pulling more than pushing, which isn't good, and/or you might have a relatively weak core; it's common from a desk job and driving a lot without any specific exercises.

[Foursquare]

Bought a C2 and started rowing. Did one 5000m. 23:30 at 33 spm. Arms were tied. I’m 40, male, 6 ft. 205 lbs. did some googling and realized I was going too fast and needed a plan. Found the Pete plan, so here we go:

Day 1 : 5000m 22:45. 21 spm
Day 2 : 6 x 500m intervals ranged from 1:55 to 2:04. 23-27 spm. Back a little sore, as is my neck, which is strange.

Far better result when you understood the technique involved, well done

A sore neck is a bit strange, but you might be hunching your shoulders? Lower or upper back is sore? If it's lower, you might be pulling more than pushing, which isn't good, and/or you might have a relatively weak core; it's common from a desk job and driving a lot without any specific exercises.

Lower back. I imagine it’s posture and sitting at a desk all day not doing much. Hopefully will strengthen over time and get easier.

[mitchel674]

Bought a C2 and started rowing. Did one 5000m. 23:30 at 33 spm. Arms were tied. I’m 40, male, 6 ft. 205 lbs. did some googling and realized I was going too fast and needed a plan. Found the Pete plan, so here we go:

Day 1 : 5000m 22:45. 21 spm
Day 2 : 6 x 500m intervals ranged from 1:55 to 2:04. 23-27 spm. Back a little sore, as is my neck, which is strange.

Far better result when you understood the technique involved, well done

A sore neck is a bit strange, but you might be hunching your shoulders? Lower or upper back is sore? If it's lower, you might be pulling more than pushing, which isn't good, and/or you might have a relatively weak core; it's common from a desk job and driving a lot without any specific exercises.

Lower back. I imagine it’s posture and sitting at a desk all day not doing much. Hopefully will strengthen over time and get easier.

Welcome to the BPP thread!

Double check your form and posture now while you are a newbie and just starting the plan. This will pay dividends in the future and prevent injuries as you advance.

Resist the urge to go all out and kill it early in the BPP. Future pacing is based on these early rows. You will be setting yourself up for some challenging and potentially disappointing pieces in the future.

Embrace Pete's call to row your steady state pieces with an eye towards technique, efficiency and relaxation.

Enjoy and post your progress here. This will keep you accountable and may also provide some motivation.

[RayOfSunshine]

Bought a C2 and started rowing. Did one 5000m. 23:30 at 33 spm. Arms were tied. I’m 40, male, 6 ft. 205 lbs. did some googling and realized I was going too fast and needed a plan. Found the Pete plan, so here we go:

Welcome! I've done the BPP on the rower and am now doing it on the ski. It's a great plan. I think Mitchel has done it 3 or more times.

Week 7 complete

[Rowan McSheen]

Back a little sore, as is my neck, which is strange.

I sometimes get a sore neck, which seems caused by tensing the shoulders when heading back up the rail. If I relax them, the soreness goes away.

[frenzen]

Hello guys, been keeping at it, sometimes my rowing spillover to next week so I try to finish the week on a monday. At Week 13 right now

Day 1



Day 2

[Rowan McSheen]

The three "compulsory" workouts of week 12 completed. I wasn't sure of the benefit of the third one, just 3 x 10 minutes at steady row pace, it seemed rather unchallenging. But I'd been for a hard run the day before and the legs were a bit creaky so I appreciated it in the end.

Onwards and upwards.

[RayOfSunshine]

Week 8 completed

[thaloun]

Forgot to post last week. Part way through week 20 now. Still going strong, and have kind of dialed in the rates for the different lengths of interval. Today was 5x1500r3:00, target pace 2:07, splits of 206.8/.6/.3/.8 and 2:01.7! Felt very strong and controlled today and really looking forward to the 500s on Friday. The plan says that's a good benchmark for a post-plan 2k so I'm very curious.

Keep up the good work everyone!

[mitchel674]

Forgot to post last week. Part way through week 20 now. Still going strong, and have kind of dialed in the rates for the different lengths of interval. Today was 5x1500r3:00, target pace 2:07, splits of 206.8/.6/.3/.8 and 2:01.7! Felt very strong and controlled today and really looking forward to the 500s on Friday. The plan says that's a good benchmark for a post-plan 2k so I'm very curious.

Keep up the good work everyone!

That sounds great! It's nice when it all finally kicks in and you can row with confidence at your expected pace.

[Rowan McSheen]

It must be going really well if he's looking forward to doing 500m reps

[RayOfSunshine]

It must be going really well if he's looking forward to doing 500m reps

My thoughts exactly!

[aegis]

Did week 16 intervals today and was wondering why I appeared to be suffering more than usual, turns out I was doing 2 instead of 3min rests! Managed to keep pace for first few reps and faster than last one so quite pleased.

I've been on and off the plan due to various reasons since i started in May. Despite that the most noticeable gain I've seen is that I have taken 14seconds off my steady state pace. I've replaced the long rows with 10k,then 60 and now 75min on the erg and i think the increased volume helps a lot for sure.