I was very pleased to interview world record holder Leigh Timmis recently. He has just published a great book about his experiences called The Race of Truth. It took him five years to write. The interview will be published tomorrow and I’ll post a link. What a modest and thoughtful man as well as a remarkable athlete. It astounds me where he gets his energy from. He has the world record for the fastest ride across Europe, and also the most miles ridden in seven days. These are certainly astounding physical feats. He didn’t simply take minutes or hours off the previous record, but days! His body has to be robust enough to withstand the intense training required. It has to be sturdy enough to survive the incredible pressure he puts on it during the record attempt. However, he is also able to go deep into his mind in order to find the psychological resources required to push himself beyond ordinary limits. The book goes into great detail about his struggles and difficulties and how he overcomes them. He is able to achieve a sweet spot, where mind and body are in tandem, that enables him to achieve these remarkable records. He is able to contain incredible energies without breaking down.

He is also able to use what we might term a secondary container, in the form of the team around him. His nutritionist, sports coach, psychologist, logistics expert and extended team seem to absorb many of the pressures on him. He is able to make use of his team, and turn around what could be destructive, into something creative. This secondary container can ensure he is given just what he needs, just when he needs it. This could be a phrase from his team, which resonates with him, such as “what’s the view from the balcony” which helps him to visualise his own achievement as a spectator. Or it could be more concrete nutrition, in terms of a sandwich he likes.

The team around him are interpreting all the messages he is sending. Not just the computer read outs about his speed and cadence, heart rate and tyre pressure, but all his unconscious messages. How is he speaking? What is the music of his voice like? How does his body look on the bike? How are his moods? They are constantly seeking to work together to digest and make sense of his powerful emotions and to give him back something useful. The analyst Wilfred Bion spoke of how a mother may take the dread experienced by a newborn baby and somehow absorb it, and make the baby feel safe. The mother may act to psychologically digest such experiences and give back something more soothing to the baby. Well, I wonder, given the pressures he puts himself under, such intensity, such extremity, that he may feel states of dread and hopelessness. There are times he writes about when he thinks of giving up. But he is adept at using his team, and that allows him to weather primitive and extreme emotions.

Leigh spent a great deal of time picking the right people for his team. He sought out people that he clicked with. He was attuned to the chemistry. He was also mindful of the chemistry between people. He must have intuitively known how much he would need to depend on them. And how much communication, some of it unconscious and through his body, would be going on. He had faith that his team would be able to work together to interpret his messages, and to figure out how to get him to the finish line.