Michael Phelps says he ate a pound of pasta to recover after winning his 23rd Olympic medal
At the peak of his career in 2008, Phelps was reportedly eating 12,000 calories a day to fuel his body for all of his swimming.
Now, on his fifth Olympics, Phelps appears to have dialed it back a little bit, but not much. According to Max Winters of Inside the Games, Phelps' recovery after winning gold in the 4x100m freestyle for his 23rd medal Sunday night included a fairly hearty meal.
"I tried to do as much as I could, get my lactate cleared, had a massage, had an ice bath, eat," Phelps said. "I think I had a pound of spaghetti and I am not a spaghetti fan, I forced myself to eat it."
Phelps also revealed that he didn't get to sleep until almost 3am and then had to be up at 11am for a bus ride.
At 31 years old, Phelps' recovery isn't as easy as when he was 22. However, eating a pound of pasta sounds a lot more pleasant than his other recovery methods.