For years, I believed becoming a better runner meant simply running more.
When I was living in Bondi Beach, Sydney, running became much more than a hobby. It became part of my identity. What began as early morning runs along the Bondi to Coogee coastal path soon evolved into training for ultramarathons across Australia and New Zealand. At my peak, I was regularly running more than 150 kilometres each week, often spending four or five hours at a time on the trails preparing for races that demanded as much mental resilience as physical endurance.
Like many endurance athletes, I became obsessed with finding marginal gains. I stretched religiously, booked regular sports massages, practised yoga, swam in the ocean, cycled to reduce impact on my joints and paid close attention to nutrition and hydration. Every decision was made with one goal in mind: recover faster so I could train harder.
It wasn't until I discovered the sauna that I realised I'd been overlooking one of the most powerful recovery tools available.
After long runs, I'd often head to the sauna at Bondi Icebergs. Perched above the famous ocean pool with uninterrupted views across the Pacific Ocean, it quickly became a ritual. At first, I simply enjoyed the feeling of warmth after hours on my feet. My muscles softened almost instantly, my breathing slowed, and the fatigue that had built up over a long run seemed to melt away.
What I didn't realise at the time was that my body was responding to far more than just comfort.
Today, there's a growing body of evidence showing that heat exposure supports both recovery and long-term health. Sitting in a sauna raises the heart rate, increases circulation and places the body under a manageable form of stress that encourages adaptation. Research has shown that post-exercise sauna use can increase plasma volume, improving the body's ability to transport oxygen more efficiently during exercise, while long-term Finnish studies have consistently linked regular sauna use with improved cardiovascular health and longevity.
Although I knew none of this during my years in Bondi, I could certainly feel it. I recovered more quickly, the stiffness that normally followed long runs became less severe, and I was able to maintain higher training volumes without feeling permanently fatigued.
Perhaps the biggest change I noticed was my sleep. After an evening sauna, I would almost always experience the deepest sleep of the week. I'd wake feeling genuinely restored rather than simply less tired. As the body cools after leaving the sauna, it mirrors the natural drop in core temperature that occurs before sleep, helping prepare the body for deeper rest. Yet for me, the greatest benefit wasn't physical. It was psychological.
Several years after moving to Australia, I completed a ten-day Vipassana meditation retreat. Ten days of complete silence. No phone. No reading. No conversation. Just observing the breath and learning to become comfortable with stillness. That experience fundamentally changed how I understood recovery.
I've come to believe that one of the most effective ways to recover the body is first to recover the mind. Stress isn't confined to our thoughts; it manifests in our breathing, posture, muscles and nervous system. If we're constantly switched on, the body never truly gets the opportunity to repair itself.
The sauna naturally creates an environment that encourages the opposite. For twenty or thirty minutes, there's nowhere else to be. No emails to answer. No notifications. No distractions. You're simply left with your breathing, the warmth of the timber surrounding you and your own thoughts.
I've often described the sauna as one of the most accessible forms of meditation. Not because it replaces meditation, but because it creates the conditions for it. The heat demands your attention. Your breathing slows. Your nervous system begins to shift away from a state of constant alertness and towards one where genuine recovery can take place.
Today, my routine is refreshingly simple. After a hard training session, I'll typically spend 20–30 minutes in a sauna. Sometimes I'll follow this with a cold plunge or cool shower, but not always. More important than any individual session is consistency.
Looking back, I realise that my greatest improvements as an athlete didn't happen during the kilometres I logged along the Bondi coastline. They happened afterwards.
Recovery isn't the reward for training; it's where adaptation actually takes place. It's where muscles rebuild, the nervous system resets and the body becomes stronger than it was before. The sauna taught me that slowing down isn't the opposite of progress. It's often where progress begins.
