The sports I do are solitary: I swim long distances in open waters, I trained as a boxer for a couple of years (and still hit the bags each week), and bike long distances, sometimes off road.

So I decided I needed to do a team sport, become more social and actually work with others to get my body moving about. I joined a program that gets beginners like me to play, teaching us the drills and techniques to play a decent game of basketball.

What I thought I was getting into was a group of people who were older and maybe a little less agile, who would enjoy tossing around a ball and maybe even hanging out afterwards to grab a beer and shoot the shit.

Instead, I found myself running around the court with a bunch of 20 and 30-something year olds. Understand, I am pushing 60, and am probably a minimum of 10 years older than the second oldest person on the court.

I'm game for anything, but hauling my ass around and chasing a ball with these kids is pretty damned hard. Last night I came home with wobbly knees and stretched muscles. I can barely walk.

Aging gracefully....