Fine old athlete ruined with heroin? It's how things are (3,3,2,3,4)

'it's how things are' is the definition.
(the lie of the land means the state things are in)

'fine old athlete ruined with heroin?' is the wordplay.
'ruined with' indicates an anagram.
'heroin?' becomes 'H' (H is a slang term for heroin).
'fine'+'old'+'athlete'='fineoldathlete'
'fineoldathlete' anagrammed with 'h' makes 'THE LIE OF THE LAND'.