Is 37 too old to be able to run a full mile without stopping and also learn to swim?

Hello people, sorry for my stupid question but was hoping that someone could shed some light on my problems and struggles. First I'll tell you my body type then a little about what I'm wanting to do.I'm a 37 year old white male, 5 foot 10 at 150 pounds fully clothed! I've been at 150 for nearly 20 years so yeah I'm a small guy that can't gain weight if I wanted to! Ok so for a few weeks now I've been running everyday on my old middle school track. I drink lots of water and stretch out good before and after I run but at best I can only jog one lap before my body is killed! My chest gets so tight I can't breath and feels like my heart is going to explode out of my chest! So one lap is my max and I'm not improving at all! I can complete one mile = 4 laps when I jog the straights and walk the curves but that's it that is all my body has in it to give and it really upsets me!!!!Ok now as for the swimming part that is something I have struggled with my whole life! I have tried on and off to learn how to swim since the early 80s! Yes you read right the EARLY 80s!!!! And I cannot freaken do it at all if my life depended on it!!!! I sink like I'm made of rock no matter what I do!!!! I can't even start to float even when I take in every ounce of air I can I will still sink right to the bottom and can lay flat on the bottom of the pool! I can hold my breath for two full minutes and on a good day two and a half, I have practiced that for sometime. But I do want to make changes in my life I'm tired of being the small skinny non athletic guy that can't even get a date because no woman ever finds me physically attractive enough!!!! I want to start a new road towards an all new me! I want some muscle definition some upper body bulk be able to run a full mile and be able to freaken swim like everyone else I know!!!! And to be able to take part in and enjoy summer activities in and around the water and get over this fear of the water I've had to live with for all my life because I can't swim and would drown right away if I was to ever get in it!!!! Anyway if anyone has any tips, advice or ideaa please tell me ok? Or would you say I'm just to old and by genetics not athletic enough to physically ever be able to do any of this????

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Recommended Answer:

No! Visit your doctor and tell him/her what you are up to. Follow their advice. Swimming: Take lessons.

Other Answers:

• Well I'm a 38-year old, 6-foot-1 white male who barely tips the scales at 64 kg (140 lb), and 2 months ago I completed a 6.4 km (4 mile) inter-corporate 'fun-run' in about 36 mins. It was the first time I'd done _any_ running since I left school, 20 years ago.My immediate boss, who is taller than me, almost as skinny, and more than 20 years older, finished one minute sooner than I did -- but unlike me, he'd done a few runs in the 6 weeks beforehand. Beyond cycling to and from work (18.5 km, 11.5 miles -- takes me about 50 mins, each way) a couple of times per week in the 2 weeks preceding the run, I'd done no major 'exercise' as such since putting my bike away for the winter at the end of last October.Yes, I had to slow to a walk a couple of times in the last lap, and yes my legs hurt for about a week afterwards, but otherwise I experienced nothing like what you're describing. So I would suggest that what you're feeling is not normal, and I would strongly recommend you get a doctor to check you out, and maybe do an ECG and/or exercise tolerance test.As for the swimming, can't really help you there -- I learned to swim when I was about 6, and worked as a lifeguard and later divemaster/ scuba instructor between the ages of 20-30. So given that our builds are so similar, I would suggest that this is not your problem. At a guess, your problem is not that you 'can't' as much as it is that you have 'decided' that you can't. This kind of thought process becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.My son, who is 6 and also quite skinny, has real difficulty keeping his head above the water while swimming, but can swim at or just below the surface quite competently. He hasn't really twigged yet that swimming with his head down is actually the best way to do it -- that he only needs to lift his mouth out of the water when he needs to breathe.(For some reason, the instructor taught his class breast-stroke first, which is a lot harder for him, because he's got no fat on him. I learned crawl first, and that was how I was taught to teach swimming, too -- because it's easier).Swimming easily is much more about technique (and self-confidence) than strength, so all I can really suggest is maybe... take some (more) lessons?