Learn how to salvage your race when disaster strikes using the ADAPT method—a system designed to manage mid-ultra chaos and keep you moving towards a successful finish.
Short Version (TL;DR): The real test at Escape from Meriden wasn’t just the distance. It was managing a race during a rough patch with depression, anxiety, and Social Anxiety Disorder already chewing through energy before the start line. Then, four miles in, one shoe disappeared into a waist-deep HS2 construction quagmire. I had a choice: spiral, stop, or adapt. I kept moving for 25 miles with one shoe, got a replacement pair of Dylan’s Nike Pegasus at Droitwich, and used the ADAPT method (Accept, Diagnose, Analyse, Plan, Take Action) to adjust from a 90-mile goal to a strong 60-mile finish. That isn’t failure. That’s good system management under pressure.
Escape from Meriden gave me a proper, real-world example of what the ADAPT method looks like when things get messy.
This wasn’t one of those neat race stories where everything clicked and the pacing chart lined up nicely with the finish. The weeks leading into the event were coloured by a mental health battle: depression, anxiety, and Social Anxiety Disorder. That matters. Not as an excuse, and not as drama, but as context. Your starting line is never just physical. Sometimes you begin an ultra already carrying a heavy load before you even pin a number on.
So when the day started to unravel, it wasn’t happening in a vacuum. The system was already under strain.
Then at around mile 4, the course went through a waist-deep mud section churned up around HS2 construction. Calling it mud almost flatters it. It was a quagmire. In that mess, I lost a shoe.
Not a lace came undone. Not a minor slip. The shoe was gone.
For a second, that sort of thing scrambles your brain. You think, Surely this is the end of the race? You imagine the long walk back, the frustration, the self-talk, the whole thing collapsing before it has even begun.
Instead, I kept moving.
That is where ADAPT earns its keep.
The Trap: When One Problem Becomes Five
A race rarely falls apart because of one issue. It falls apart because one issue triggers panic, panic triggers poor decisions, and poor decisions start stacking up.
That’s especially true when your head has already been working overtime in the build-up. If you’ve been battling depression or anxiety, your brain is already good at feeding you worst-case stories. Add a missing shoe at mile 4 and it can get loud very quickly.
This is why I coach runners to focus on system management, not emotional drama. You do not need to feel brilliant. You need to make the next sensible decision.
1. Accept: Call It What It Is
The first step is brutally simple: accept reality without wasting energy arguing with it.
At Escape from Meriden, acceptance sounded like this:
- I’m only a few miles in.
- I’ve lost a shoe in deep mud.
- The original 90-mile goal is now under threat.
- I am not in the ideal headspace.
- I still have agency if I stop panicking.
That matters. If you stay stuck on “This shouldn’t be happening”, you burn energy on fantasy. The race does not care what should have happened.
Acceptance is not giving in. It is getting clear.
And when you’re already carrying mental fatigue, clarity is gold. You do not need a motivational speech. You need honesty.
2. Diagnose: What’s the Actual Problem?
Once I’d accepted the situation, the next job was to diagnose it properly.
The problem wasn’t just “this is awful”. That’s not a diagnosis. That’s a feeling.
The real issues were:
- one missing shoe after the waist-deep mud section
- awkward, uneven loading from continuing with one shoe
- a high risk of blisters, battered feet, and compensatory niggles
- the mental drain of trying to keep calm while already dealing with anxiety
- the reality that the 90-mile plan no longer matched the day in front of me
This is the bit runners often skip. They go straight from emotion to a random decision. That usually ends in a bigger mess.
If you had seen me there, shuffling on with one shoe, the outside view might have been simple: either quit or be “tough”. In reality, neither of those labels helps much. You need facts. What is damaged? What is still workable? What gets worse if you ignore it?
That’s the diagnosis.
3. Analyse: What Resources Do You Still Have?
This is where the race changed.
I had not magically fixed the problem. I still only had one shoe. What I did have was the ability to keep moving, keep thinking, and work towards the next practical solution.
So the analysis became:
- I could still move forward, even if it was ugly.
- The goal might need to change, but the day was not automatically over.
- There was a chance of sorting replacement footwear later on course.
- If I could get to Droitwich, I had options.
- Every mile completed before then was buying time and keeping me in the event.
That led to one of the grittiest decisions of the day: keep moving with one shoe for 25 miles until I could sort the problem properly.
Let’s be clear. I’m not presenting that as a glamorous badge of honour. It was rough, awkward, and far from ideal. It meant absorbing load unevenly, constantly monitoring the foot, and managing the mental noise that comes with looking ridiculous and feeling vulnerable.
If you deal with Social Anxiety Disorder, that part hits differently. Plenty of runners understand physical discomfort. Fewer talk about the extra strain of being seen struggling, looking a state, and having to keep going anyway. That is still part of the race.
Resilience is not pretending things are fine. It is functioning while they are not.
4. Plan: Shrink the Problem
Once the situation was clear, the next move was to stop thinking in big, dramatic chunks.
Not:
How do I rescue a 90-mile race?
Instead:
How do I get to the next point? How do I protect what I can? How do I set up the best available finish from here?
The working plan became something like this:
- Keep moving forward and don’t waste energy on a meltdown.
- Protect the foot and manage effort as sensibly as possible.
- Reach Droitwich.
- Get replacement shoes.
- Reassess the original target honestly.
- Adjust if needed and aim for the strongest finish the day will allow.
That’s exactly what happened. At Droitwich, I got replacement shoes: Dylan’s Nike Pegasus. Not the perfect ultra setup. Not the pair I’d planned to run deep into the race in. Just the tool available at the time.
And that is one of the biggest lessons in long-distance running: the best solution on race day is often the one that is available, not the one that was ideal on paper.
Once the replacement shoes were on, the bigger decision came into focus. The original 90-mile goal no longer made sense for the body, the conditions, or the overall system. So I changed course.
Not emotionally. Not in defeat. Logically.
I used ADAPT to move from chasing 90 miles to executing a successful 60-mile finish.
That shift matters. Some runners hear “reduced goal” and think “bad day”. I hear “correct decision”. If the day changes, your plan should change with it.
5. Take Action: Commit to the New Race
A plan only matters if you act on it.
Once the decision was made, the job became straightforward: stop mourning the old race and run the one that still existed.
That meant:
- accepting the 90-mile target was gone
- committing to the revised outcome fully
- using the replacement shoes and managing the body sensibly
- staying engaged instead of drifting into self-pity
- finishing 60 miles well rather than wrecking the whole system chasing a number that no longer fit the day
This is where a lot of runners get stuck. They sort of make a new plan, then spend the next few hours arguing with it. That split focus drains you.
Once you’ve made the right call, back it.
The successful part of Escape from Meriden wasn’t that everything went smoothly. It was that the race got salvaged through calm decision-making. A lost shoe, a battered setup, and a mentally tough lead-in could easily have ended the day very early. Instead, the day became a live example of how to adapt under pressure.
Why This Story Matters Beyond One Race
I’ve spent thousands of hours on trails, and one thing I keep coming back to is this: your biggest breakthroughs often come from the days that force you to manage yourself properly.
Escape from Meriden was not just about mud, shoes, or mileage. It was about what happens when physical problems and mental strain arrive together. That is real life for a lot of runners. Busy life, poor headspace, social pressure, self-doubt, then a race issue on top. Sound familiar?
This is exactly why I believe coaching has to go beyond splits and sessions. A plan matters, of course. Training structure matters. Pacing matters. Yet when the day starts wobbling, what saves you is your ability to assess, adjust, and keep making sensible choices.
When we work together, I do not just hand you sessions and hope for the best. I help you build the decision-making skills that let you keep moving when the day goes sideways. That might be in a 5K, a marathon, or a 200-miler. Different distance. Same principle.
If you want support that prepares you for the messy bits as well as the clean ones, have a look at my personalised coaching services or get in touch.
I’ve also broken the ADAPT method down on its own, step by step, outside of this race report: The ADAPT Method: What To Do When Your Race Falls Apart.
Key Takeaways
- Your starting line is physical and mental: low mood, anxiety, and social strain all affect how much load you can absorb.
- Acceptance saves energy: once the shoe was gone, the only useful question was what to do next.
- Diagnose facts, not feelings: the issue was not “this is a disaster”; it was lost footwear, altered mechanics, and a changing race goal.
- Use the tools you have: Dylan’s Nike Pegasus were not perfect, but they were enough.
- A smart change is still success: changing from 90 miles to a strong 60-mile finish was good judgement, not weakness.
- ADAPT works because it keeps you moving forward: one clear decision at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if the original goal no longer makes sense mid-race?
Then change it. A goal is only useful if it still fits reality. Sticking rigidly to an outdated target is how runners dig a deeper hole.
Is carrying on with one shoe for 25 miles something every runner should do?
No. This story is an example of adapting in context, not a blanket recommendation. The point is to assess risk, available options, and what the day allows. Sometimes the right call is to stop. Sometimes it is to keep moving until you reach a workable solution.
How does ADAPT help when mental health is already affecting the race?
It gives you structure when your thoughts are noisy. Depression and anxiety can distort decision-making. A simple framework helps you come back to facts, choices, and immediate action.
What does a “successful” finish actually mean?
It means getting the best outcome available from the day you have, not the fantasy version you wanted at the start. At Escape from Meriden, that meant letting go of 90 miles and finishing 60 miles well.
