FARMING,TRAINING,FARMING,TRAINING

Farming,training,farming,training ...oops and family. Farming pays the bills it has to be done!! training will hopefully get me through KAEM, unfortunately my family during this time has to suck the proverbial hind tit. I am extremely lucky that Kim understands.. well sometimes! The children are very demanding of my time and I really try to give them as much as I can whenever possible between farming and training that is.

My day starts like this.. 03h30 wake up , coffee,  get to dairy by 04h00. Sort any issues for current milking and analyse data from Alpro which is a full management system  (advanced and technical). You see us dairy farmers are extremely progressive and innovative, you have to be to survive. 04h45 start Bartersfield dairy which is 3km away. 05h30 back to Denleigh dairy, breed cows, treat sick cows, issue instructions for grazing and feeding, 06h30 back to Barterfield dairy, breed cows, treat sick cows. Back to Denleigh check pastures and feeding. 07h00 sort out work for heifer staff, inoculations, weighing, breeding etc. 08h30 breakfast... this where I slip in my first session. 30min indoor trainer with 30min weights and core.. 09h30 back to Denleigh work with heifers and enter data on to two dairy management systems. 13h00-14h30 run run run...14h30 same procedure as morning .. 19h00 close up dairy and see the children and cook supper,I try help Kim with Jenna's homework and school lunches... 20h30 I go to club duvet... This a a typical day but there are many days where things go very wrong,  break downs in dairies, absent staff, disease outbreaks, runaway fires and then all training is cancelled and I don't see the family. This is hectic to some maybe not so for others but for me I WOULD NOT CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD.... would like to see the family more though!!!

MY NAME IS DIGIT

My name is DIGIT! While studying Nature Conservation at the Cape Technikon a friend gave me the nickname DIGIT. His name was Andre Klocke he had an uncanny ability to give very appropriate nicknames to people associated with their looks or behaviour. Mine was not because I'm good with numbers, or missing a finger. It because I looked like a gorilla from "gorillas in the mist". The silver back gorilla with the fused fingers was called DIGIT. The name has stuck with me ever since almost 20 years. If people call me by my real name I don't respond, everybody calls me DIGIT and I like it.

HOW I'M WIRED!!

I am a classic mesomorph! If I look at a cookie it will go straight to my ass. I'm told my forefathers were Scottish Highlanders known for their running ability in the highlands, unfortunately that genetic ability seems have been diluted somewhat on me through the generations but I have still have that dogged determination to endure and finish a task.  As a youngster I was somewhat "porky" and had to endure nicknames like "tubs" and "fatboy". I always played sport at school from the age of 8 I was put in the scrum and I loved every minute of it. I hated athletics I always came last in 100m sprint, I was told I wasn't built for running but for power. At the age of 16 things started changing I started body-building and being a mesomorph I got strong and muscular very quickly. After leaving school and completing my national service I studied Nature Conservation, not much studying too much drinking, but still managed my weight well. I started working for the Natal Parks Board in 1992 and then I started packing on the pies. In 1997 I decided to go dairy farming a far cry from nature conservation I know but I suppose it's in my blood it has to be more about dairy farming later.  In 1999 I got married to Kim (see family) after which I ballooned to 110kg ( I am 1.78m tall and ideal weight is 76kg). After seeing a picture of myself at that weight I knew I couldn't carry on like that. I started mountain biking and watched my diet and I lost 34 kg in 4 months, I then started to achieve some success in the age group categories(sub-vet) placing in the top three in a number of races. After a few years of MTB I started to look for new ways of testing my body. In 2008 I did my first Iron man 1,8km swim,180km cycle and 42km run, I was hooked to endurance. Unfortunately in 2009 I got coxsackie virus which set me back a bit but still carried on training much to the disgust of my doctor and family. 2010 brought a new challenge the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme marathon (KAEM) but I knew I didn't have running endurance in my legs, so I used the Comrades Marathon as a training run  for KAEM. I enjoyed Comrades and finished in 8h24 not fast but good enough for my first one! Comrades was an extremely humbling race for me I thought I could dominate it but it showed meI had a lot of work to do if I wanted to complete the KAEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!