I was on my third ride using SPD pedals yesterday. I locked in my right, pushed off to get some speed, and attempted to get my left side locked in. I guess I need more practice because I guess I needed more speed/time to engage my left foot. As I did get it locked in, the bike stopped and I toppled over unable to get me feet down.
I guess I'm lucky in that except for a really nasty bruise on the outside front of my left calf which I'm thinking landed first, I did ok with some small bruises on my hands and quad. My calf welted up immediatly so I put the bike back on the rack, and drove home with my icy cold drink being held on the welt. When I arrived home, I put the bike away and iced my calk down for several hours.
I thought it would be much worse today but I'm generally ok except for the calf which has some swelling and light bruising. Guess I'll take a few days off.

Big question is if I should continue to use SPD. I was wondering if pedals which have the platforms and SPD side would be better to learn with.

Hopefully, I won't wind up on YOUTUBE with the caption "OLD FATGUY FALLS OFF BIKE."