Can I do Pete's Beginner plan at 2X per week?

[Joefish]

Hello,

Can I do Pete's Beginner plan at 2X per week instead of 3X a week? I figured I would go step by step through the plan insread of by week. In other words, it would take me 3 weeks to get through his first 2 weeks (6 workouts, 2x per week).

Any thoughts?

[mdpfirrman]

I suppose you could but the whole point of the BPP is to build your aerobic base up. It would just come much slower for you doing it twice a week. Also, you'd be tempted to push your paces on those two days a week as you might feel a bit fresher. Pushing the pace isn't the point, it's more about aerobic endurance. Two days is better than no days.

[mitchel674]

Certainly you can train any way you want. I'm now in my 4th week of the BPP, and my early observation is that the three scheduled rows really complement each other. The two increasingly long rows at the beginning and end of each week build your aerobic base. We all need these long rows. The middle high intensity row introduces varying intervals at higher speeds. These can seem daunting, but they do give you a nice aerobic challenge.

If all you can do is one long row and one set of intervals, it's better than nothing, but giving up that second long row will slow your progress.