Shannon Lucas is a photographer and outdoorsman who works as a Drupal developer at Four Kitchens. He's a contributor to over a dozen projects on Drupal.org, including the requisite Block Class module and the popular 960 grid theme, Nitobe.
When he's not working or attending Drupal conferences, you can see Shannon on the road as he trains for the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic or in the skies over Seattle, Washington, as he jumps out of airplanes.
Christefano: Thanks for responding to my request for an interview. What's your personal definition of fitness?
Shannon Lucas: I tend to take a holistic view of fitness that includes mental health as well as physical health. In my mind, enjoying life, expanding your horizons, and having good friends is just as important as exercising and eating right.
C: What do you do to stay fit and how do you incorporate it into your day to day life?
SL: My favorite exercise activity is cycling. During the summers, I tend to do a training ride 5 or 6 days a week. The winters here in Seattle make keeping that schedule a bit harder. I do spend time on the rollers during the winter, but a large part of the enjoyment is being outside.
C: The rollers I've used have been unspectacular if not just plain hard to use. Has your experience been the same?
SL: I have a set of CycleOps rollers that I bought used, and they're pretty good. What the rollers really work on though is your form. So while you don't get as hard a workout on your legs as you'd get from a stationary trainer, your core stabilizer muscles get really exercised. So if you can stay on the rollers for 15 minutes at a time, you're actually going to be significantly better out on the road.
I actually got a lot out of going to a cycling coach for a little while when I lived in Austin. The gym he was at has a machine called a Velotron that is a computerized, adjustable frame, fly wheel cycling trainer. This could be adjusted to match the size and configuration of my bike, and I got a lot of good data on how I was riding down to the fact that I was consistently putting more pressure on one pedal than the other.
C: What other activities do you do?
SL: Two other activities I really enjoy are skydiving and scuba diving. Skydiving is more mental than physical, and being able to learn the activity requires you to learn how to relax and clear your head. Scuba diving has a physical and a mental part since you can be carrying 60lbs or more of weight until you get into the water.
C: I haven't gone skydiving yet and it's interesting to think of it that way. It almost sounds like a moving meditation.
SL: It's definitely something that can be called an out of body experience, and it makes you understand the literal "blown out" translation of the word Nirvana. The first few times, it's definitely an adrenaline rush, and the senses are overloaded. The adrenaline never goes away, but it stops being an overload, and on each jump, your circle of awareness expands further.
Being relaxed while fully engaged is one of the core parts of the sport. It becomes a positive feedback loop in every day life: you want to get better at skydiving to get that feeling you get from jumping, so you work on being relaxed when you're not jumping, which helps elsewhere, and which then pays off the next jump and reinforces the habit.
C: Do you do these things because you work a lot at the computer and you wanted to find a way to get and stay fit, or have you always done these things even before becoming a Drupalista?
SL: All of the above. In addition to the physical benefits, I've found that taking a break and getting away from the computer helps with the problems I'm trying to solve. I get back to the computer almost rested as far as the programming muscles go.
I work from home, so I will usually do the bike ride in the early afternoon to avoid most traffic. I also will break around lunch time to walk the dogs.
C: How do you stay motivated? Are there any tips that would have been good for you to have known in your past that might help others in our community?
SL: I think the thing that has helped me the most is learning to have realistic expectations of myself. One example that comes to mind are the "get fit quick" headlines on the cover of Mens' Health plastered next to the picture of a model. There's an unrealistic suggestion there that you can look like that in a month or two. And at the end of two months of hard work you can get really demotivated when you don't.
C: What fitness-related goals have you set for yourself and what techniques, software programs or fitness gadgets (if any) are you using to reach them?
SL: The biggest goal on my agenda right now is to do the 200 mile Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic next year.
I tend to shy away from fitness gadgets and software, but I do like having a bike computer with a heart rate monitor. For logging progress, I just use a spreadsheet or a text file.
C: Which heart rate monitor do you use? I have a Garmin FR60 right now and have been wondering what to replace it with.
SL: I'm between computers right now. I had a Garmin Edge 305, which despite being "waterproof," did not survive being sent through the washing machine (I left it in my jersey pocket). I was actually very happy with it. I'm just still wrestling with whether or not I want to sink that much money into one again.
C: I'm curious why you shy away from the gadgets. Can you say more about that?
SL: I'm too easily distracted by the technology, and I tend to start associating the results with the technology instead of the exercise, and then I'm always lusting after the next new gadget. It's similar to the "if I get a better camera, I'll be a better photographer" phenomena.
That being said, one of the things I really liked about the post-ride data from the Garmin was that I could look at where the hills were on the map and see what my heart rate was. So I guess if the usefulness of the information outweighs the distraction of the technology, I use it.
C: Would you be interested in people contacting you or joining others for organized fitness-related events at Drupal conferences and meetups? Can you propose any group events that you'd like to take part in?
SL: Certainly. I think any organized activities will depend greatly on location and time of year. Chicago, for instance, isn't a good option for a bike tour. However, things that could be done indoors such as basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, or racquetball would be fun options. I think that more people would be attracted to doing it if the emphasis is having fun rather than competing.
C: Are there questions that you would have liked to have been asked?
SL: It might be interesting to know what people's motivations are for joining the Drupal Fit group.
C: That's a good idea. I think we should start with that at the Drupal Fit BoF at DrupalCon Chicago.
Oh, one more question. How did you get the nickname "Heathen"?
SL: The story actually isn't as exciting as the name implies. There's a female Shannon at Four Kitchens, so conversations can be confusing. Another employee, Diana, had been telling her husband about things at work, and he was getting confused by the two Shannons, so he suggested she refer to the female Shannon as "Sheenan" and me as "Heathen." So when Diana told us about it at the office, female Shannon didn't like her name, but I liked mine, and it started getting used around the office. Then one day on a conference call with a client, Diana accidentally referred to me as "Heathen," and then had to tell the story to the client. So they started calling me that too, and the name stuck.
Mind you, people do ask from time to time if I'm really a heathen. Since I don't practice Asatru, I just respond that I'm an "agnostic heathen."
C: That's really funny! I love stories like that.
Thanks again for responding to my request for an interview. I hope Drupal Fit members get as much out of it as I just did.