Giraffe, Shark, Rabbit Pt.1

Day 1: Giraffe

Hello. My name is Charlie Rizzo. I’m a 42 year old male. I like to smoke weed and exercise. 

Sometimes separately, sometimes at the same time.

My favorite time to exercise is when I’m just starting to come down from the high, as is my plan this afternoon. 

Recently, I’ve started playing an exercise game called ‘Giraffe, Shark, Rabbit.’

He’s how I play it:

When I go for a jog, I run for about 20 minutes. 

For the first 5 minutes I run, pretending that I am a giraffe. 

I’m jogging, but deliberating keeping my pace low. 

I’d say I’m giving about 50-60% of what I’m capable of. 

Then I pretend I’m a shark for 3 minutes.

Going as hard as I can, bringing that effort up to about 90%

I sound like a cartoon character panting and gasping for air as I do this. It really gets my heart rate going BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Then, for 4 minutes, I pretend that I’m a rabbit. 

Specifically, I pretend to be a Bunny character from a children’s book that I wrote and illustrated. This Bunny is very chill and into new age practices, so that’s the kind of mindset I get into. I just walk at a brisk pace and let me heart rate come down. 

Then I do ‘shark’ for 3 more minutes and then ‘giraffe’ for 5 minutes and that’s 20 minutes of running. 

Today I did this for the first time at the community center track, as opposed to the trail outside our house. 

There was a high school track team there. I occasionally, especially in ‘shark’ mode, would try to keep pace or pass them. 

It made me push myself harder than usual, and when I was done, my nose started bleeding.

I had been planning to play ‘giraffe, shark, rabbit’ in the lap pool, but I had to cancel those plans. Instead I went to the locker room bathroom, shoved a bunch of toilet paper up my nose and went home. 

What is the significance of the giraffe?

African shamans believe giraffes to be messengers of Gods. They believe that giraffes remind mankind of opening our hearts and seeing the bigger picture. As giraffes symbolize the natural world, their message is to restore balance and harmony to the world. 

Giraffe’s message is that with grace and beauty, we can bring Mother Earth back to her healthier state. 

-Article on Giraffe Symbolism and Meaning by Garth C. Clifford on worldbirds.com

The strain I smoked today was called Confucius Kush. I bought it from a dispensary called Happy Camper In Colorado.