Last night was the first threshold work I've done for my 2013 training plan. As always, these sorts of efforts hurt, that's the whole point. Five intervals right at my lactate threshold. Last night was 6 minutes of hard effort with 3 minute recoveries. Next week will be 5 intervals of 9 hard/3 easy. The week after will 5 x 12/3.
What I enjoy about crossing the border from aerobic to anaerobic training is that I can feel good about what I've been able to accomplish in terms of building an aerobic base. 10 weeks of longer, slower rides have yielded a wide base that I'll now be able to layer much harder workouts on top of. Now is the time to take credit for all that hard work. But know that what lies ahead is progressively harder and harder workouts, which will culminate in being at a peak in mid-February 2013.