Changpao wrote:
Based on what you wrote here, it seems like the most straightforward answer to your question is to train more. 12-15 hours per week, rather than 9-12, would probably do the trick. But, of course, a lot depends on how you train. There's a lot of details missing too. How did the races unfold? What were the courses and conditions? For instance, if your 11:12 was IMWI, my advice is to do IMFL. That's a good 30 minutes right there. What is your nutrition strategy and did you stick to it? What are your stand-alone times for the marathon or half marathon?
The races were all IM Canada (first two in Whistler, third in Penticton). I'll be racing Penticton again this year and my goal is sub-11 on that course. I'm sure there are faster courses out there, but I don't have the budget right now to fly to a race (I can drive to Penticton in a couple of hours).
Nutrition strategy was Clif Bars and Gatorade on the bike; then Maurten gels, salt tabs, water on the run. I mostly used on-course nutrition, but brought my own Clif Bars. I ate six of them during the six-hour bike.
A 12 hour training week for is 3 hours swim, 6 hours bike, 3 hours run. I can't find that amount of time every week, but leading up to Penticton I am trying to hit that most weeks.