what almost kills you makes you older

i used to be a good swimmer. if you would have asked me this morning if i was a good swimmer, the answer would still have been "yes". i swam competitively for 12 years, and to this day still hold a record or two around the city i grew up in . i don't announce this to brag about my so-called glory days, but to give a reference of what used to be. no longer, my friend, no longer. today i embarked on my first journey to the pool for laps since 2005. I decided to start out "easy" - 1000 yards. I used to swim about 10,000 yards a day - 1000 seemed like a decent number. 40 lengths. Nothing extravagant, but something to get the blood flowing. I started out strong. I felt as in shape as i did in high school. At least for the first 3 lengths. I wear two bracelets on my right hand from a friend visiting Africa. By lap 4 it felt like my bracelets had been replaced by that friend hanging onto my wrist. My arms dragged as I tried to slice through the water, I felt every kick in my ankles, knees, and pores of my skin. I survived those 40 lengths, but just barely. As a kid, i remember laughing at the adults as they tried to keep up with our practices while they were in the lap lanes. Tonight I joined the ranks of the old people - I even had trouble getting out of the pool.