When to redo base training plan

Hi,

When is it appropriate to do a base training plan? I have sort of come to the end of a training plan and was missing a few sessions here and there owing to family duties and DIY projects getting in the way. I recently had my first fail at completing a workout (Mt Hale) and I felt as though my fitness was pretty poor. I decided this week was a good time to go back and do a base training plan, then build etc to see me through the winter. However, when I did the ramp test on Tuesday to begin the plan, my ftp had gone up from 221 to 239. I don’t want to lose that improvement. The TSS scores for the workouts of SS base are nearer the 60 mark than the 90 to 100 I have been doing. Would it be worth continuing with a more taxing plan?

Thanks
James

I think this is probably a textbook case of when to revisit sweet spot base. Give yourself some time to consolidate the ftp gains you’ve made and rest a bit with the lower tss and then push your ftp higher with the next build phase closer to the beginning of the season. You likely won’t lose fitness in the base phase and having a solid base will let you push higher during the subsequent build phase.

Thanks for the advice @QuittingBikes and @dby2222. I’ll continue with the base plan. I’m glad I shouldn’t lose the FTP gain. I’m in a better position to commit time wise to the training plan and I’m just starting to go on semi-regularly weekend club runs again after having children, so I’ll hopefully improve my aerobic capacity.