Problems with starting and acceleration

[7up]

Last week my car died and I tried to jump it with a few cars, nothing would work. Finally I took off all the cables to the battery and cleaned them and put it all back together. It started right up.

Now it is having problems starting again. It takes three long tries to start it everytime, before it would always start right up. It also has become noticably slower the last two days. Sometimes it feels like I'm driving a four banger. It starts to accelerate and then it becomes really sluggish around 2500 rpms.

It's going to the mechanic on Wednesday, but any info on what might be going on would be greatly appreciated.