Capital Punishment, MTB marathon newbie

Hey guys,

Just thought I could wing some advice off some of you to give advice to my friend.

I have entered my second marathon, Capital Punishment (after Convict 2012), having a much more grounded knowledge of the art of MTB marathon racing. Upon hearing the news, a very close friend of mine subsequently made the decision to enter the race with me. A few years ago, this friend was a cycling beast, having come in the top few at national competitions, in all XC, 4X and DH, but over the past year, he (now 18yo) put his emphasis into rugby (to which he also excelled at). The last big ride he did was on GNR at the end of 2011, where his ability had dropped to rock bottom, and I rode with him at OMV for the first time since then yesterday. His technical skills seem pretty high after all this time, but I know that his cycling endurance fitness is way down.

He wants me to give him advice as to how to get in the condition to be able to ride 100km. The current plan is to go for rides every second day, mixing between singletrack (such as Old Man's Valley), Firetrail (Such as Quarry Road Track), road (Such as 2/3 gorges loop in Berowra) and stuff in between such as Great North Road. This obviously will be worked up to. The intent is to have done at least one 60km GNR ride in "race conditions" (No stops, food put in back pocket and eat on the track, pushing as hard as possible). He is also planning on doing regular runs on the off days.

Does anyone have any further advice on what he (and subsequently myself) should do in this 2 month training period?

Cheers, Tristan