Anterior Femoral Glide - PT Exercises

Starting this off with a huge disclaimer. I am not a physical therapy professional - I'm just someone who has gone through a lot of physical therapy. The only license I hold is a driver's license. I have a masters... in Media Studies, so I'm prone to calling muscles and bones the wrong name. These exercises are only to educate people on what has helped me with anterior femoral glide syndrome post arthoscopic hip surgery (due to a 4cm labral tear). I cannot stress enough that you should consult your physical therapist/ortho/doctor before doing these exercises. The main reason I'm posting this however is that many out there do not have PTs that recognize anterior femoral glide syndrome. My last post covers my background with AFGS and the lack of information out there. Lastly, no complaints about the image quality. I really don't have time to do an awesome job because this isn't my job! I got websites to build and money to make! Alright, now the exercises...

First part of my regimen is doing some stretches. My hamstrings are always super tight thanks to my job as a freelance web designer and front-end developer. You can use just about anything that is long enough to do these stretches but I found it worthwhile to buy a cheap yoga strap on Amazon. I hold these stretches for about 30 seconds each, for a few rounds.

In my last post I talked about how you have to be really careful with hip stretches if you have AFGS. This stretch is a good way to stretch the hip - by lying on the ground the hip can't go forward and thus push the femur forward. Have the strap around your foot, and then take the slack and put it over the opposite shoulder, holding onto it while propped up on your elbows. This is a bit more stabilizing while still getting a stretch. My PT also had me just lay like this for five minutes with my legs down and propped up on my elbows. I had some issues with my low back and sciatica - these two stretches as well as the laying helps with my sciatica too.

Next up is what my PT called "lion drills". I do this for about 10 reps. It's quite simple. Kneel on hands and knees with your knees 8 to 10 inches apart, hands directly under your shoulders, and arms and back straight. Keeping your arms straight, slowly lower your buttocks toward your heels and tuck your head toward your knees. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Slowly return to the kneeling position.

Next is a simple leg raise. I had to be aware of my back and my PT had me arch my back ever so slightly because I have the tendency to sway my back. Also bring awareness to your hip, keep it straight, no twisting and don't bring your leg up too far up. Remember, you're trying to keep your femur stable, and avoid pressing it forward.

Bridging helps with core stability as well as strengthening the glutes. Remember part of AFGS is that the glutes aren't firing properly and strengthening them is part of the solution.

Once you've gained enough strength you can move forward to bridge single-leg raises. Start in a bridge position, then straighten one leg and then extend your leg up so that it's perpendicular from the ground. As you can see, I have a lot of trouble keeping my leg straight. Do the best you can. This is an exercise that I found needs your full attention. Keep your bridge high and your abs tights. Make sure your hips are level and your leg is straight at all times. You might experience some clicking from your hip - I know I do. When I focus on my abs and keeping my hips straight I experience less clicking.

Everyone's favorite! Clamshells!! I had to do clamshells as part of my post-op protocol. I thought I was doing clamshells right, but apparently I was not. I was still using my hip flexors and not my glutes. Make sure your back is completely straight when you're setting up to do clamshells. Put your thumb right over where your hip flexors are, yeah that's right, all up in your groin. (First pic, I'm over emphasizing where to keep your thumb.) Focus on firing with your glutes and not the front of your hip. If you feel your hip flexor bulge out STOP, reset and try again. The aim of this exercise is to strengthen your glutes and train your body to fire with the glutes. Your first time your glutes will be on fire! That means UR DOIN IT RIGHT! Once you got this down, use a theraband tied around your thighs to add extra resistance.

This is a handy exercise I do a lot, it's easy to do anywhere. I find it's best to have something to hold on to, just to make sure your posture is good. Stand straight, with your foot turned out. Simply bring your foot behind you, keeping the foot turned out. Due to the angle of how the camera is it looks like I'm bringing my leg out to the side, but I'm not. Just bring it behind you. Also, focus on keeping your hips straight - I'm obviously not, but by this time I was over the whole video yourself while doing PT thing. This is a glute and hip strengthener.

Lastly, not an exercise but a joint mobilization. This has been the most helpful thing I've learned to stop the burning pain on the front side of the hip. The first image is just to help show where to put your hands, which is on the very top of your leg. You want the heel of your hands to be on the top of the muscle where your abdomen and leg meets - there's a lot of muscles all up in there. To me, when I'm pushing down, it feels like I'm pushing down a slab of meat, (which I sort of am) sexy!

Keep your back straight (even though you'll lean forward a bit) and push down with the heels of your hand. Press down with the weight of your upper body. I push down as hard as I can while keeping mostly upright and my back flat. Make sure you are doing this on a chair that is high enough that you don't have to hunch over but not so high that it's hard to push down. The chair I'm using is the perfect height for me. Also make sure that the chair will not move easily! You don't want to lose your balance or slip and fall! Hold this for about 10 - 20 seconds, repeat if necessary. I try not to do it too often in one day but the relief I feel after is euphoric. Especially if I'm having a particularly bad flare up.

There you have it, my PT exercises for Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome. I have found so much relief from these exercises, I am extremely grateful to my PT for his help. One other exercise I do but didn't add was squats, mostly because I am a lanky weirdo and I just look completely wrong doing squats and I'd rather not post something that looks wrong. Ask your PT if you are seeing one on how to best to perform squats. Also, part of my PT program was that my PT did a lot of manual therapy and joint mobilization. He basically had to rock/jam my femur backwards, it was always so far forward. I'm sure doing it on your own is helpful but nothing beats having someone that actually knows what they're doing performing manual therapy and joint mobilizations.

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Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome

UR DOING IT ALL WRONG

I can't believe it's been three years since my hip surgery. I basically stopped writing about what therapies I was doing because nothing seemed to be working. Now, looking back on posts it seems like I was so desperate for anything to be the answer. The active release therapy worked to help relieve the tightness in my hips but the pain was still happening. (As you'll find out, this wasn't a failure of ART, but a failure of addressing the mechanical issue causing the pain.) I eventually gave up going after months of treatment. At the end of last summer I was still in so much pain that I started to believe I needed to have surgery again. I was so clueless, and every doctor seemed to be so clueless as to why I was still in pain, that it seemed surgery might be my only option.

I decided to reach out to the physical therapist I had way back in the beginning, Keith at Quinnipiac Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine. Before surgery, he had helped me with my shoulder when a trip while running sent my shoulder straight into concrete. The swelling had limited my range of motion before I did Swim Across the Sound. He found the issue, which I was actually quite impressed by. There was swelling in my chest from the fall that was radiating up to my shoulder, limiting movement. With manual therapy and some exercises I was better in a few days, just in time for the long day of swimming. Looking back, I have no clue why I didn't see him after my surgery. I don't like having regrets, but I can't help but regret not going to see him before/after my surgery. Sigh.

Anyway I reached out to him and had an evaluation. He spent a lot of time looking at my range of movement, posture and talking about the pain issues. When he told me that he thought he could help me and that he didn't think I needed surgery, I burst into tears. I wanted to believe him, but I was also so scared of putting all my hope into another treatment and not actually getting better. For the first time in 2+ years I had a name to put to this pain, "Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome". If you want a detailed explanation of AFGS I recommend this post over at Eric Cressey's blog. In basic terms, the head of my femur is too far forward in the joint capsule, which was responsible for the constant burning pain I was experiencing. The other issue behind AFGS is that the hip flexors are activating when the glutes should be. So to correct this issue one has to train their body to activate the glutes instead of the hip flexors.

Now, I'm obviously not a physical therapist so I'm completely limited on knowing much about the AFGS debate - or even if there actually is a debate about it. All I can figure out from the lack of information out there on the internet is that not everyone recognizes Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome. If you are reading this blog because you are searching for answers to your hip pain, I have some not so awesome news for you. You might have a hard time finding a PT that will recognize this issue. I don't know anything about the hows or whys to this, but I can say that it's incredibly infuriating how many people on the Hip Impingement Awareness (FAI, PAO, THR) Facebook group have seen/are seeing PTs that don't recognize this issue or take them seriously when they bring this issue up.

All that I can say is that Keith at QPTSM knows his stuff and is the rare breed of PT that actually cares to figure out problems. I know first-hand that Keith and his staff will discuss patients issues, bounce ideas off each other and work as a real team to solve problems. During my first session with Keith I was so affected by the pain that I was a mess. My posture and gait were so bad that I was basically a sad diagonal line, my body was pulling to one side. Through joint mobilizations and other manual therapy solutions he had me walking upright again and reduced the pain significantly.

Over the next few months of sessions my pain began steadily decreasing. Thanks to his exercise protocol and joint mobilizations I could perform on myself, my flare-ups decreased in time. I can say with confidence that this was the biggest issue that was creating my pain. I hope to write a post detailing the exercises I did to help this issue. But I want to stress right here and right now that HIP OPENERS are detrimental to anyone suffering from Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome. That means, NO PIGEON POSE. If you look back in my posts, I was doing lots of yoga. I was convinced hip openers were helping me. Especially pigeon pose, because that's a pose my original PT recommended I do, and DO OFTEN. Multiple times per day! Turns out that was making things worse. So I would have a bad flare up, get on the mat and do the exact thing that pulls my femur even further back into the wrong position and only MAKE THE PAIN WORSE.

NO!

Do I still have flare ups? Yes. But I will say that for the first time in 3 years I have had several weeks in a row, on multiple occasions, with no pain. That's huge. Also huge is that often, if I do my PT, flare ups STOP. Instead of going on for full days or weeks or more, if I push through the burny pain and do my exercises and self joint mobilization the pain subsides. Finally I have a real cause/effect/solution to this pain. I'm also going to a massage therapist to work on the residual scar tissue and tightness - which also seems to be helping. I'm not 100% yet but I feel like I'm actually making progress for the first time in years. More posts about Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome to come because there's a lot more to it, I haven't even gone into the sciatica or exercises, stretches you can do, or anything like that. That will come in time, because now, due to the lack of information out there, I feel the need to be an Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome evangelist.

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Labral Terror

So after my last whiny post a lot has happened. I wrote that post on a Wednesday night and by Friday I had an appointment set up with a new orthopedic doctor. This was the doctor my coworker recommended to me months ago, but for some reason didn't go to. Now I wish I had, but hindsight is always 20-20. Dr. Schachter realized my problem right away. It was NOT "snapping hip syndrome" but most likely a labral tear. As defined by the MayoClinic: "A hip labral tear involves the ring of soft tissue that follows the outside rim of the socket of your hip joint. This ridge of cartilage, called a labrum, works a little like a suction cup to help hold your hip joint together."

Guess what sports are attributed to such a tear? Well among them are running, biking and kickboxing! Yay! We're thinking the combination of my naturally deep hip sockets with all the sports caused this tear to happen. An MRI confirmed the tear, and while they put contrast in my hip joint to show on the MRI better they also gave me a cortisone shot. It was SO worth the giant needle in my hip for 10 minutes. On one side of me was a doctor putting in the needle and on the other side was the x-ray image of my hip. The image would refresh every minute so I got to watch the needle go in deeper and deeper, then feel the fluid going into my hip and then watch the screen show the fluid dispersing. It was a highly unnerving experience. Also nobody tells you how LOUD an MRI is!! The protective headphones hardly masked the crazy sounds the machine made. I thought MRI's were these highly advanced silent machines but I was wrong.

So what happens next? Surgery. The day after my birthday to be exact. Last year on my birthday I rode 25 miles to celebrate my 25th year. This year I get crutches. I went to Dr. Schachter today for my final visit before the surgery. He explained that there is some hip impingement so along with fixing the labral tear they will do some very minor bone shaving. I actually got really lucky because in some cases of FAI there needs to be some significant alterations done to the bone. (Read more about FAI here.) I found out today that I will be staying in the hospital overnight because my doctor is worried I'll have adverse reactions to the anesthesia and get sick. Also, unlike my first and very shitty orthopedic, he has taken my gastritis into account.

When Dr. Schacter first told me I would probably need surgery I Googled the bejesus out of FAI. Instead of scaring me I actually found a lot of relief. I found my symptoms described in perfect detail. I found people who went on to do Ironman triathlons. I found a lot of encouragement and I also felt so much better! This post at www.understandingfai.com describes the writer's experience with her symptoms and I felt a weight of guilt lifting off of me when I read it. She too had intermittent and sometimes unbearable pain. I felt guilty because I thought that "snapping hip syndrome" could be fixed easily and that I must be doing something wrong because it wasn't getting better. I also felt guilty because some days it feels fine and other days it burns so bad, so I thought that the pain must be in my head. I must be the one making it out to be worse than it was. Chronic pain is an emotional roller coaster, and I'm ready to get off and enjoy the things I love to do again.

The recovery includes: 3 weeks on crutches and two weeks of this baby:

Look! She's loving it! And soon so will I! PT sessions probably twice a week for a couple of months and the doctor says I should be able to train again in about 4 months. I was hoping I'd be able to do a September triathlon but it looks like I will just have to wait until next year. The doctor wants me to be very careful and to "cool my jets" for awhile. A lot of people have seen the recovery A-Rod has made (who has this exact surgery... and I still think a douche bag) and think they can go back to running around in 6 weeks. Unfortunately since A-Rod exists had this surgery people have been increasingly getting tendinitis because they're pushing themselves too soon.

Despite the fact I need surgery I'm pretty optimistic. From what I've seen on blogs, people have gone to five or six orthopedics before finding a doctor that recognizes what this is. It is often misdiagnosed as snapping hip syndrome, hernia and other issues. Because it's a relatively new procedure there aren't that many doctors who do it. There's one guy in New York I keep hearing about, who is highly recommended except for the fact he takes CASH ONLY, UP FRONT. Um, sorry but I don't have $20,000 just hanging around. The other doctor who is "the best" is Dr. Philipon out in Vail, Colorado. Since finding out I need surgery I've had everyone giving me other orthopedics they've heard about. While I appreciate it, I'm happy with my current doctor. My coworker's brother-in-law is an orthopedic doctor who knows Schachter very well and I like that he is very thorough and cautious and treats me like a human being, which I've found to be a rare quality amongst doctors, especially orthopedics.

*It should be noted that "labral terror" is my boyfriend's amazing pun, not mine. I like to give credit where it's due. More of his amazingness can be found at this site.

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Low Point

This will probably be the most unedited, emotional mess of a post yet. I'm at a loss for what to do. I keep building myself up only to have the pain return. I dropped $200 on swimming stuff Tuesday. Flippers, kickboard, new goggles, 2 suits because I lost one and other is severely stretched out. Swam my first 1000 yards of the year, mostly with flippers, feeling like I was cheating having them on, but whatever my hips are weak. I took Advil later. The pain burned and gnawed at my groin for the rest of the day. Yeah. Groin. I have fucking groin pain. It's embarrassing and uncomfortable and so painful. Pain that just burns and feels like someone is pressing between my lady bits and the beginning my thigh. If I sit too long it hurts, if I walk too long it hurts, if my back isn't straight, if my legs aren't a certain way, it hurts. It hurts every fucking day and I'm just so sick of it.
I've been pouring time and money into PT. Into yoga. I try to do my exercises but then I'll have a day where I've gone to PT and it still burns, and I'm left wondering if I'm getting worse or better. Yoga hurt. Elliptical hurts. Swimming hurts. I just want to move again. My body is slowly turning all the muscle I worked so hard for, 2 hours a week for almost a year, and I'm watching it disappear every week that goes by. I haven't gained weight, but it's obvious my abs are weak again, my legs are no longer taut, it's just all going to shit. I know I should do ab work, and it would really help, but it's so hard to motivate myself to do it, to go to the gym especially when no cardio is involved. It's gotten to the point that I see runners as I drive around town and start to cry. Because I can't do that anymore. It all seems like another life. It's so stupid, so stupid to cry over a muscle injury. There are people out there with missing limbs, who have to have surgery, and yet here I am whining over this stupid, lame injury. I feel like a total dick and helpless at the same time. My boyfriend, who has been a saint, has been there to pick me up every time I have a day like this where I just fall into fits of frustration and tears. He's been amazing and I'm so sick of being Debbie Downer.
I want definite answers. I want someone to go "do this, this and this daily", and have it actually work. I hate these down days. I hate whining. I hate that it just takes over and I don't know how to deal with it.

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On the Mend

The new year is here and with it a lot of changes. As I briefly stated in my last entry, for the past few months I've been dealing with a hip injury. It started after my last triathlon. I was running more on the treadmill, trying to squeeze in workouts as best as I could. Hip pain would flare up soon after a run. I would stretch all sorts of ways, but nothing could stop the pain or burning. An hour or so after running on the treadmill 4mi I was limping so badly I could hardly walk. The next day I called up my physical therapist.

After a month of seeing no improvement I went to an orthopedic. At first the doctor told me to go to a gynecologist because he thought I had a hernia. He seemed to be taking guesses for a diagnosis. (BTW - he's a horrible doctor and I wouldn't recommend him to anyone.) He was about to leave when I asked, exasperated that I was losing my one chance at getting a physical therapy prescription, "WHAT ABOUT THE SNAPPING?!" He came over and said he didn't feel any snapping. So I rotated my leg the way I had learned that makes it snap, and it did, painfully. My eyes shut and my face tightened in pain. He looked down at me, unamused. "Ok. You have "Snapping Psoas Syndrome". Uh. What?

Well he was no help really explaining it so I did a ton of Google searching after I left his office. The smart explanation via http://emedicine.medscape.com:

(photo from : www.arthroscopichipsurgeon.com)

"The most common cause of a snapping hip is the iliotibial band snapping over the greater trochanter. This may be associated with trochanteric bursitis or with increased varus of the hip. The finding of a tight iliotibial band is common. Sudden loading of the hip (eg, landing after a jump) may reproduce this sensation of the iliotibial band subluxing over the greater trochanter. With sudden loading, the hip typically is flexed, causing the iliotibial band to move anteriorly followed by the tendon snapping backward as the individual recovers and extends the hip."

Basically, there's a muscle in my hip snapping over another muscle. The causes of SPS (BTW - Snapping Psoas Syndrome is also known as Snapping Hip Syndrome) are varied. My amazing physical therapist over at Excel Physical Therapy in Hamden, CT had the same injury from running and training for half marathons. Mine is an overuse injury as well. It's a bitch, but with a lot of work, is treatable. The added bonuses I had to make this ordeal more painful was 1. Hardly any hip flexor strength, and 2. Scar tissue developed in my groin to make up for the lack of hip flexor strength. I can think back over the years and remember all the times I stopped or skipped an exercise that dealt with hip flexor strengthening. Every time I tried these particular exercises my hip felt like it was grinding and snapping, the feeling made me nauseous as it was so strange.

It seems logical when you feel pain or grinding/snapping you would respond by stopping. Stopping turned out to be the exact wrong thing to do in this situation. I should have pushed forward, built up some hip flexor strength and I wouldn't be in this mess. Hindsight = 20/20. So I've been building up strength, little by little, and the snapping is less persistent. The constant burning feeling (which was bursitis) has lessened a great deal. My PT has broken up the scar tissue over the past few weeks with ultrasound and scraping (yes, scraping) at my groin with an object that looks like a wrist bone. As much progress as I've made, I still have to keep working at strengthening and stretching my hips before I can run. I have been going on the elliptical and today started a month trial of Bikram yoga.

Other than all that, this week is my first week of grad school. I'm going to the New School in New York City to obtain an MA in Media Studies. For now I will be staying in New Haven and commuting once a week into the city. My job has kept me on part-time, and I can't say enough how thankful I am that my company has been supportive of this decision.

Great blog post on helpful tight psoas exercises:
Low back pain while running... a real pain in the butt

Yoga Journal article 'Get Hip' which goes over some hip stretching poses, such as pigeon (shown above).

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The Ups and Downs of Running

This post is brought to you by my favorite product of all. Bird's Eye Classic Mixed Vegetables. They are the perfect accompaniment to black beans and rice, they are cheap, and easily transportable. They are also my favorite ice packs.

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful. I had to show my apartment since I'm looking for a new roommate, so I couldn't go to spin class as usual. Nor would I have anyway since it was so nice out. After I showed the apartment, I decided to go for a run. I wanted to go 6 miles. At first my run was going great! By the time I hit the downtown area of New Haven, I was running just under 8 minute miles! I was pumped and I kept at it, pumping myself up more with positive affirmations. I did hill intervals during my morning workout, and it seems I immediately see a speed increase after those sessions. I kept telling myself I need to do more hill intervals because I was going so fast!

I felt great, I looked great. I've committed myself to doing abdominal workouts every other day (which I will post more about later) and it's really starting to show. All was going well until I tripped on a grate in the sidewalk I've run over a dozen times. I hit the ground, HARD. Two ladies who were several yards ahead of me where turned around when I got myself up. My shoulder and knee immediately began to burn. I looked over to my shoulder, it glowed red. I paused my iPod, and one of the ladies yelled, "It only hurts for a minute! Were you running?" "Yes."

I walked forward, a bit defeated. Every time I'm feeling awesome about myself and my progress I get smacked down. It's become an Icarus complex, I can never fly high without getting burnt. I muttered expletives and thought about what I was going to do. Am I going to walk home? What would I tell people? What would I write on my blog? Haha. I thought to some encouraging words my friend Maura had just texted me an hour or so before. She told me how I was an inspiration to her, and that she's been running more. I was so touched, and happy to hear that. I needed that. I've been having a down week, I feel weak but I have no real explanation. I think with the whole roommate situation and some other thoughts I've been having, on top of lack of sleep, has just gotten to me. I wanted to cry, I almost cried. I had a flashback to Muay Thai sparring, when I got the wind knocked out of me. The trainer was right next to me again screaming "Don't CRY! DON'T CRY!! SUCK IT UP!" And so I sucked it up, and swallowed it down like a rancid shot of cheap whiskey.

So all this ran through my head at a thousand miles an hour. Not even a minute after falling, I turned my iPod back on, I restarted my now scraped up Garmin and started running. No way I was walking home. What if I fell during a race? I think I need some injury perseverance training. I passed a woman who was smiling at me, like really smiling. I couldn't tell if she was smiling at me because I'm tattooed (which is usually the case) or if she could tell I was injured (my shoulder was a brilliant shade of lava) and realized I kept on running. Most likely it was just the tattoos, but I decided to go with, "She thinks I'm awesome because I got back up."

So I ran, debating the entire time whether I was doing more harm than good, or if this wasn't such a bad idea. By the time I got to my street I was feeling "good". Okay, I was in pain, but the rest of me wanted at least another mile. I fell at mile 2.5 and I was now a mile past that, so I decided to push myself even more. I went down Whitney a little more before I turned onto a road that was sort of heading back home. I was running sub 8:30 min miles. I kept going and by the time I was nearing my apartment I was really in pain. In the end I ran 4.28 miles with a pace of 8:23. Had I not injured myself I probably would have had a pace of 8 or even below. Still, under 8:30 is fine with me.

Excuse me Mr. Flamingo, it seems your head has exploded.

It looks so lame! The real pain isn't the scrape, it's my complete shoulder. During my cool down walk I tried to move my shoulder, and I heard that digital noise in my head, the sound a camera flash used to make when it charges. Shit. This is bad. I only hear that noise if I'm about to pass out or I'm in a lot of pain. As soon as I got home I took two bags of Bird's Eye Mixed Vegetables, laid on my mat, and put one on my shoulder and one on my knee and just laid there. I looked up at the ceiling wondering how bad it was, or if I was just being dramatic. After the icing I put Ziploc bags with wet microwaved towels in them on my injuries. Then Google said not to do that. Only long term injuries get heat. But the heat felt so good! The ice made me stiff and hurt more. So I iced again, and took a shower, which loosened up my shoulder and knee again.

This morning I debated working out, because I'm insane. Luckily I realized I'm insane, and opted for a rest day. Because sometimes I need to admit I'm human, which is hard for me to do. I'm sore, and I keep trying to stretch out and move my shoulder. Luckily my knee isn't so bad. So I will probably go to the gym after work, to go to the sauna and hopefully loosen it up some more. I know they say not to heat it, but it makes it feel so much better. I think the muscles are just knotted up, and hopefully I will be able to swim this weekend.

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Clipless Pedals, or Me vs Gravity

Saturday after hard kettlebell and kickboxing classes, I decided it was finally time I get it together and buy bike cleats. I headed over to Zane's Cycles in Branford, CT. It's a pretty big store, and I prefer the intimate setting at Devil's Gear but Zane's apparel and gear selection is much bigger. I picked one shoe in the women's section that was tolerable, but the sales guy said Look pedals wouldn't fit it. He came out with a shoe that was black and silver but the Specialized logo was powder blue. UGH! Why do womens specific bikes and gear have to have pastels and flowers?! I can't stand it. I want to be taken seriously, not "seriously for a woman". I could go on a rant here about running skirts and such, but I'll save it for a later time.

Anywho, I ended up getting black, red and silver MENS cleats that match my bike perfectly. When I got home I immediately went to work on my bike. Getting the platform pedals off was frustrating, but getting the Look pedals on was really easy. I headed off for a test drive around the neighborhood. I didn't seem to struggle and didn't fall! I thought I was ready for a real ride. I got on some biking clothes and headed out. Of course my first fall was at the end of my street.

I got to my first full intersection stop, and tried to twist out of the pedal. I ended up falling directly behind an SUV. I was laughing, but at the same time hoped she didn't over shoot the intersection and decide to back up, cause my head was right behind her tire. When I got up and got onto the sidewalk, I looked at the driver. She hadn't even noticed my fall, she was busy talking on her cellphone. Yikes. So on I went to do the usual canal ride. It was a great day, perfect for biking. I realized right away the difference the pedals made. It's much easier to reach a higher, constant speed. Hills are a bit easier since I can concentrate on my power rather than keeping my feet on the pedals. Once I got on the canal I practiced getting out of my pedals for all the intersections without a problem. Of course, there were never any cars coming and no reason for me to panic.

My second fall came at the end of the ride. I was approaching a busier intersection, and the cross street was a very steep hill. I thought I was going slow enough, but again couldn't get out of my pedals. I kind of panicked and started to go left up the hill while trying to get out of my pedals at the same time. Kersplat! I fell, harder this time. I have a nice scrape on my forearm, right where my skull tattoo's wings meet. My tattoo has been stenciled on my last few band-aids. It hurts like a bitch even though it looks like a sissy scrape. An old man on a bike came over to me when I fell and I sheepishly laughed and said, "First day on the pedals." He had no idea what I was talking about so I showed him my shoe. "I've never seen anything like that before." "Oh well... uhh I'm okay!" and I rode off. I felt like such an idiot. I know everyone falls their first few times, but I felt like I was 7 all over again falling on my bike and having a stranger help me up.

I hope I get used to the pedals really quick. I signed up for the "Bloomin' Metric" today, which is a 100k ride through Fairfield County on Sunday. Baptism by fire has always been my method. Luckily I'm riding with my friend Deborah who is probably one of the sweetest girls I know. I won't feel stupid falling in front of her, she's new to the biking madness as well. Wish me luck. I'm definitely heading back to Zane's Saturday for some THICKER SHORTS. Hopefully I can get the shorter stem for my handlebars installed by Saturday too. Otherwise my shoulders are going to KILL on Monday!

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