Training plan question: base or build

hi there. i have started tr in april and went through sweet spot base lv. after that due to a lot travelling and heat and more outdoor rides, i tried to keep a maintenance level to some degree without following a plan. i did some longer rides, some outdoor intervals but as structured as before. my calender has a slight drop of tss during that period, but not massive.
i’ll be getting back to structured training on the turbo this week. do you think i could go straight into build? i’m only training for personal fitness, no racing goals. so i would have time for base again, but i’d like to try a new plan if possible for variety. any thoughts if this is acceptable?

If you have maintained fitness since SSB LV, I would try a a Build LV and see if you can handle it. Assuming you are not in the Southern Hemisphere, you will still have time to cycle through Base, Build and Specialty over the winter. The Build plans have a little more variety and it would be nice to get a pop in your FTP before the indoor season. Caveat - I am sure the science says start with Base again.

If you don’t have races or any goals, Base is your best bet to build a really solid, long term aerobic base to start from. That said, with no goals, you can do whatever looks interesting to you provided you think you can handle the TSS. Make no mistake - Build is a marked step up from SSB.

Gun to my head - I’d tell you to do Base work again.