Berlin Marathon 2015 Race Recap

It’s First November, last day for Berlin ballot 2016 😀 and New York Marathon just start few mins ago. Finally, post of the main reason of my Europe Trip 🙂

it was in December 2014, when I had 4 eyes conversation with Ishida-san back In Singapore #penting #pisan, a text message arrived at my mobile phone said my credit card was charged Euro 100++ for SCC events!

whoa! I made it to for Berlin Marathon 2015 Ballot 🙂
so did my sister, Noni and Manda. The B and the F sisters 😀

Thus, i decided to ditch my Paris Marathon bib (bye bye Euro 100 bib -___- )  and signed up for a triathlon race in H1 2015! In which,  i never regret *WINK* Unlike my life, my race is well planned #eh 😉
later we knew that Riefa, Corry and Kak Oi were coming too!

well as told here , 2 months before the D Day I was supervised by a coach. my level of fitness and endurace dropped to its lowest point #meh. I finished my 30K practice in….5 hour something! Felt like a loser already!

Thursday, 24th September

picking up race pack at the expo. for runners, before picking up the race pack, it is mandatory for us to wear the blue bracellet until the race day. and must show it to the starting pen area.’s a sign that you’re a legal runners not using fake BIB.

little confession: I still have the bracellet #susah #moveon

Blue Ribbon

and owh, I picked the finisher tee too. yes, unlike SCMS, BMBM, or else may be, the finisher tee is not part of registration fee. I paid for another 30euro if i’m not mistaken. forgot!

so, if you plan to join Berlin Marathon better order in prior. My pic holding the bib was taken by a Mexican now lives in Virginia, USA. His name is Alejandro and Berlin Marathon 2015 would be his 4th FM. He was with his wife (forgot her name). He said last year, he undergo his third FM in Athens! (oh my goshhh…the original Marathon!!!) and it was a surprise  present from his wife.  The wife prepared everything before telling him they’d go to Athens! OHHHH SOOOOO SWEEEETTTTT! :-* *garuk garuk aspal*

Friday, 25 sept 2015

we had carboloading held by Indonesia’s embassy in berlin. The embassy also gave us visor with #INDONESIA on the left and German’s flag on the right. Or is it the other way around?

Indonesia participants in Berlin Marathon 2015

Saturday, 26th sept

we decided to join Breakfast Run held by the comittee. Run took place from Charlotte Palace to Olympia stadium. It was approx 6km of running thru Berliners’  residence which was VERY VERY nice

like its name, the comitte prepared breakfast at the Stadium consist of varieaty of bread,apple, banana, even yougurt. in my surprise yaaaa

I thought indonesian people are hardly have manner to queue ..eh yakkk sama ajaaa masakkkk!!!!

tuh bule bule juga ngga bisa antri booo pas ngambil makanan! rebutan pisan!!! –“
yeaahh, people that run comes from all over the world, so cant judge which! 😉
In the  evening my sister and Get Get had dinner at Thai Restaurant in Alexander platz, discussing a drama plot! it’s 9 degrees in the morning at 16 degrees at noon so we were wondering (hard) what should we wear for tomorrow

#world’s class problem
and here’s a tip from for you (runners) who live in tropical countries and running in cold temp country
1. bring glove to start pen and jacket! Cheap ones! it warms you before start gun and before or during run, juat throw them away! I saw many jackets scattered on start pen

2. Live in that country for a while, perhaps? 😀

SUNDAY, 27 September 2015

wake up early *oh my gosh!! what was I thinking before??? went to Berlin for a M.A.R.A.T.H.O.N?? cem betullll aja! 

it’s 42.2 km boooo!!!

we had breakfast at the hotel which is a partner of this event. its restaurant opens at 6 am on the D day and we saw many runners around.

at 7 am met Prasti  at Postdemar Platz then  heading to start pen, some dropped its bag, and met with other runners from Jakarta/Tangsel. Picture credit to Riefa.

riefa, jeffry, sikiky, Chiro, yola, prasti, corry

Start line diveded by 8 waves, I was on the last of course. Well, also the rest of Indonesian runners i know. except chiro, faster runner were in front. Expected time for wave H was above 4.30 hours. TEEE HEEE…if there is K wave, I’d be fall in K wave I guess :))

at 9.40 something,  start for H wave.

smile, before the torture. Pic taken by Riefa I guess

woose there we go!

• Coach R said DON’T try to make a PB on your long run race!!! so, spare 3-5 mins from your PB. my PB for 5K was 35 mins, and it was 39 mins when I saw 5 K mark.
• water station is every 3K. in first 3K they provide water and isotonic water only. in Km 9 (every 2 other WS) they provide banana, apple and…apple tea! DELICIOUS
• 

  at km 8 something

• at 10Km mark i recorded 1 hr 20 mins, which is still far from my PB of 1 hr 14 mins. Oh well, I’m within the pace. weeks of training my 10K always last over 1 and half hour!!!
• owh, the route mostly flat slighy hilly between Km 7 amd Km 8. the spectators were great!!!!! I LOVEEEE THEM!!!!  They will look at you bib and call out your name. Kan nama kita segede gede dosa tuh di print di BIB.   OOT: waktu gw jaga water station di The Jakarta Mrathon minggu lalu, itu yang gw lakukan buat menyemangati pelari, call them  by their bib name. Unfortunately their name printed in small letters. kan susah pas ada pelari yang cakep trus manggil nama mereka. #eh
•  I used my salt stick every 7Km, I brought 5 and two Snickers Bars.
• at Km 18 i felt a noticeable cramp in my right calf. I saw medic team they said they dont have that spray nor the balm. Silly me! i forgot my own note written on my virgin FM!
•  I felt that my body temperature is getting high. Then I took my jacket.  I can’t throw it away, it’s Lulu Lemon  #jahhahahahahha #dia #pamer! That’s why better you bring your -emang-ngga-mau-dipake-lagi- jacket.
• owh, there were many many attractions  along the way!!!  Some played the Alphron, that Switzerland’s flute. even the Taiko — beduk Jepang itu lho! though ones who played the Taiko were (seems) local, Not Japannesse! But can’t find Gamelan tho! 😀
• I think it was between Km 21 – Km 24 when a West Asia looking boy at about my kids’s age look puzzled at me and asked me with a very decent English  — mind you, I ran in non English speaking country — “ Where do you come from?”later he said “good luck, Kiky”Puzzled because I’m the one which he saw wore hijab, perhaps. :)). At around this area, there is also a shower in which, I didn’t need. Hello!!! its 16 degres my man!!! OOT (lagi) kenapa ngga ada di Jakarta Marathon ya pancuran ini? penting banget lhooo kalo udara tropis sih. Di KL Marathon aja ada! 
• my FM drama is always at  KM 25 i guesss!!! The cramp become very noticeable. There is also a huge area for medic in Km 25. They didn’t have the spray nor the balm but provide massage service. Well I asked for a massage, being ogah rugi I am! Euro 98 for the registration fee, man! :))

mas mas tukang pijat gw

they also provided this service in Km 31. But when I got to Km 31, literally no runners around.

• I think it was at Km 30, my mood of running dropped to its lowest point. Only less than 2 hour left and I’m soooo far for the finish line! I know how I run, completing 15 km in 2 hours would be impossible for me. Gw udah mulai malas-malasan….gee! I came this far and DNF! What a shame.
• yet, at Km 32 then I realized…eyampun….tinggal 10Km lagi yaaaa bukan 13 Km!!! bahahahahhaha semangat lagi…. but hell, yeah, I saw some finishers also cheering us up! udah kelar dari dua jam yang lalu kayaknya. lucky, it’s in Berlin, not Sudirman!  Where the temperature was 16 degrees something. But just to make thing worst, I got passed by many many many eldery joggers! Oh nope, they were doing POWER WALK, yet wayyyyyyyy faster than I was who (was trying) to jog!!! Asli malu cuyy!!! tuh udah beneran kakek nenek,  I bet older than my daddy!
• I think from this point forward I was cursing I-WILL-NEVER-SIGN-UP-FOR-A-MARATHON-AGAIN! EVER! -___-
• Anyway Just toooo make it fast… here I saw the Brandenbug Torr..and owh wait! What? finish line is still 500m away.

1km terlama dalam hidup gw kayaknya!

•  There you go, i did it. Alhamdulilah. I asked a Taiwan runner to take my pictures. We made friend at Km 28 or something 😀

 And to my surprise, many of my friends were tracking me down. I got my own track from them

forgot who sent this to which group 🙂

So, there is my result 🙂

PS: pictures taken by the committee, bought from Marathon Photos dot com. Yang tahun depan mau beli fotonya mending lewat Run De Globe aja, dapat diskon. gw sih anaknya sok-sok don’t rich people difficult. 😀

Anyway, after the race, made friend from KL who would be participating again the following week at Lindau, Sparkasse Marathon, namanya. Larinya lewat 3 negara German, Austria and Swiss. Cakep view-nya tapi yaah beliau sakit  jiwa kayaknya =)) Back to back marathon!

with Haris, our new friend from KL

bla bla bla… then we went out of the area to take pictures in its landmark with Namira. When we were busy taking pictures,a lady later I know her name was Gabriella approached me and asked where do I come from and whyyyyyy I wore hijab! Aih, seru amat sih ini! Muka gw muka gossip kali yaw! Then we took pictures with her, Gabriel came from Hannover if I’m not mistaken! She also had our pictures in her camera. Hi Gabrielle!!!

With Gabrielle

Serulah lari di Berlin, for sure. View are great, the spectators were wonderful!!! Pas lewatin daerah pendatang gw juga diteriakin Assalamu’alaikum sama orang2x Turki kayaknya. If money isn’t the issue, feel like joining this race annually. *carispouseyangtinggaldiJermanajaapaya?* =))

Ok, till my next world class marathon! see  you in either Chicago or New York 2016!  =))*not*

(europe trip) while in Berlin

Mundur lagi catatan perjalanan gw

Wednesday, 24 september 2015

this was my firstt long haul trip after soooo many years. We flew with Qatar Airways, berangkat CKG at midnight and arrive at DOH shubuh jam 4 and with 4 hr of transit. Hungry! 

pas buka timeline liat posingan teman teman makan ketupat sayur on Eid Adha bikin nangis ihhhhh! saya lapaaarrr!!!! Now I know how my Indonesian friends who lives abroad hate me for posting Lontong Sayur Medan!!!!

on our next flight to Berlin, I think more than half on the board were runners, I guess  there were over 20  Indonesian  and most of them would be participating in Berlin Marathon.

Di penerbangan ini gw agak “apes”, dapat tempat duduk yang ngga ada jendelanya sementara orang depan kami sibuk jepret jepret terus! bikin kesel deh  ngga bisa liat pemandangan. Mana kayaknya indah bukit bukit gitu.

at the bus to Berlin Hbt

at about 2pm, Berlin Time (7 pm TangSel time) alhamdulilah! Halo Deuthchland!!! Arrived at Tegel International Airport yang mana…kecil boo!

begitu keluar pesawat ya langsung antri imigrasi.
Kelar ambil koper, ke counter informasi beli tiket bus/tram/kereta yang harganya Euro 39 untuk 5 hari. I think I think I bought the wrong ticket as Euro 39 is also for outside Berlin. Harusnya Euro 30-an aja kayaknya.

Then proceed to the bus that would take us to Berlin Hopbanhoft. I can stop smiling while in bus! Ihiy! I made to this side of the world!

Arrive at  Berlin Hbt, we took train  which is very on time.

Om Google bilang at 3.26 keretanya datang, beneran nongol tuh S75 (S Bhan ya, bukan Metro Mini Blok M – Pasar Minggu) that would take us to station Warschauer Straße.

Di stasiun yang nyaris di ujung kota dan ngga ada lift macam Stasiun Jurang Mangu gini, okelah kita geret geret koper naik tangga untuk ke hotel N How. View belakag hotel cakeppppp tepi sungai.

Lobby Nhow hotel

this is the only hotel “mewah” yang kita nginapin while in Europe. Interiornya PINK semua cynn…Will write a review after this!

Setelah check in, kami ke East Gallery, sisa reruntuhan Tembok Berlin. Only 5 mins walk from N How hotel.

Take a pose in East Side Galery. The Arena Mercedez Benz just accros this

gw copas aja status gw di Path ya waktu gw pamer foto update status.

— It was in 1990, at the store called MARS in Irving, Texas. Tembok berlin baru diruntukan in 1989 and the store sold its crushed. I ask my dad’s permission to buy that thumb-sized stone for USD 8, he of course refused and said

“ngapain batu gitu aja dibeli. Nanti aja kalo udah gede kakak ke Berlin aja sendiri!”

25 years later, what he said comes true! Memang benar kata orang, ucapan orang tua adalah do a bagi anaknya! HOW I FEEL SO BLESSED — 

LOVE!

Anyway, like I said, I won’t write in chronological order. This what I did while in Berlin (separate post for Berlin Marathon and U2 in concert) 

Before I proceed, here is a tip HOW TO SURVIVE IN BERLIN by its Public Transportation

Bawa tuh peta Jalur Sbhan Ubhan :)) ato download applikasi Deutch Bhan

Malam pertama sampai di Berlin, gw jet lag berat pas ambil race pack buat Berlin Marathon (jam 8 malam berlin time, jam 1 pagi TangSel time) Adek gw masih lama di arena expo, gw udah cranky. Gw sok tau, pulang sendirian dan nyasar!!! gw lupa kalo kota besar jalurnya bisa di atas (Sbhan)  ato Underground (U bhan) Anyway, gw frustasi sebenarnya sama Ubhan Sbhan Berlin ini hahahhahah.

And New for me :  There’s is no gate/tap machine in Berlin (then later I know same thing in  Wien and Munich) 

Jadi kalau mau beli tiket kereta single trip atau One Day pass, beli di machinenya yang sebesar kotak surat, kita validate langsung. Ngga ada gate macam MRT Singapore atau Rapid KL (maaf ya, sementara refrensi gw cuma dua kota besar ini hahahhaha) . Bisa cheating donk? Main naik kereta tanpa beli tiket? BISA BANGET! Tapi hati-hati, there will be random checker from the officers. Tiba-tiba officersnya naik ntah di stasiun mana…woopsss! There it is! Gw dua kali kebagian random checkers ini. Sanksi-nya apa? Ngga tau gw ….hahahahahha

ok, here what I did in Berlin

Run at Berlin Spree

breakfast

Next Morning, I run!! what else!!!! And can’t stop smiling! Just behind the hotel.

We also had breakfast at the very nice small caffe just across the East Galery and Mercedez Arena.  The waitress didn’t speak English, so we used bahasa Tarzan. After you had your meal, don’t forget to clean up your own plates and cups! 😉

Nothing new for IKEA-Alam Sutra where they ask the visitors to clean up their own tray,  actually? 😀

And own, then we check out and move to our next hotel in Motel One leipziger plats dekat sekali sama Postdemar Platz train station. If you plan to join Berlin Marathon 2016 , this is very recommended to stay Close to starting pen, and many other point of interest like :

Holocaust-Mahnmal 

semacam tugu peringatan atas matinya orang Yahudi pada jaman Nazi dulu. Adek gw pengen banget kesini karena :

taken dari WIKI

According to Eisenman’s project text, the stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. A 2005 copy of the Foundation for the Memorial’s official English tourist pamphlet, however, states that the design represents a radical approach to the traditional concept of a memorial, partly because Eisenman did not use any symbolism. However, observers have noted the memorial’s resemblance to a cemetery.

Jadi ya, design dan konstruksi unik. Daerahnya sendiri ngga rata kok, berundak-undak.

Note for Visitor, please don’t step on the stone!  Stone-nya ada yang tinggi ada yang pendek. I saw many tourist did it. Please don’t regardless this Jews Thing! Remember that one stone is actually represent one people, so it’s just like you step on the grave.

just 5 mins from here you’ll find

Its landmark, Bradenburg Tor

Reichstag Building, The Parlement Building

You can visit Reichstag Buildingm then climb to its dome where you can see Berlin from above. If you’re befriended with me in Facebook, my latest profile pic with Berlin Maratahon 2015 medal are in front of this building.

Then we cross the street toward  Berlin Hbt again to make our way to  Kedutaan RI di Berlin.

Diundang Pak Dubes, Fauzi Bowo carbo loading dengan peserta Marathon dari Indonesia. Di sini akhirnya kenalan sama Prasti dan Margareth. Margareth ternyata adik kelas kami jaman SMA. Besoknya kami menghabiskan waktu sama-sama.

Lego Museum

in front of lego Museum

Dekat banget dari Hotel, tapi yang gw baca di trip advisor ngga worth it. So we skipped this. Mainannya juga ngga banyak dan sama saja harganya sama di Tang Sel..

Agak jauh dari Hotel bisa visit : 

Museum Islands

Like its name, there were many many museum over her. Surrounded by the river! Unfortunately,  we didn’t visit any of the museum here. Just strolling over this area which is very big! Yet, very nice! Paket museum juga dijual, tentunya beli ticket masuk beberapa museum akan lebih murah dari beli individual.

Oh em gees…. I LOVE THIS CITY a lot!!! Best Capital city (owh well, gw jarang jalan jalan juga sih yaa…hahhaha)

Alexander Platz Area.

which is daerah belanjanya yaaa. ramai betul. Yang suka produk Lulu Lemon, deket sini ada outletnya. Yang jaga namanya Jen, she is Canadian who studies in Berlin. She said she visited Bali when she was 5. Then she said “own well, banyak banget orang Indonesia ke sini lho dari kemarin”

With Jen from Lulu Lemon Store 😉

Pasti donk kakak!!! Runners and Yogis Indonesia kan pengen  hitzzz bajunya!
And owh, we also had little shop in PRIMACK. Macam Ramayana nya gitu deh. Haahhahaha rame betul.

Berlin Tower taken from Alexander Platz

Charlie check point, 

Daerah dekat pertokoan ini pada jamannya jadi perbatasan antara Jerman Barat dan Jerman Timur. Di area ini ada papan yang menggambarkan sejarah singkat tentang pemisahan Jerman sampai tembok ini diruntuhkan 1989. Manusia memang serakah ya! Jaman apapun itu!!!

US Army Check Point — you’re leaving American Sector

I also wrote this in my Path account. I took their picture, and “the officer”  on my left

“From Indonesia?”

Nodded

Then he walked toward us and said “SATU, DUA, TIGA”

Then he said he’s also a moslem and chanting AL Fatihah. Ah, bukan ijab kabulnya aja sih sekalian…#ehhh

Reading this information made me sad.That Peter Fechter was trying to climb the wall to West Germany. He was shot by two officers. After the Berlin Wall ruined, the officers who killed Peter was sentenced to jail in 1997!

Oh Em Gee!!! Those two officer kan  cuma disuruh komandannya pasti :((

Sejarah memang ditulis pemenang perang! Bukan yang kalah lalu tersisih!

And what you MUST eat  here if you’re an  INDONESIAN

The famous EL Reda

In front of El Reda

Why? Found out yourself! No wonder half of its visitor are Indonesian! Both students and employees! 😉

After The Concert, Tuesday 29th September 2015 we kissed Berlin Goodbye and heading to Prague and took train to Prague from Berlin Hopbanhoft.

Tips naik kereta antar negara 

papan informasi posisi gerbong

• cari di peron mana keretanya  dari papan informasi (pasti lah ya…hahahah)
• nanti di Peron yang dimaksud ada papan yang kasih gambaran (foto di atas) , kereta kita datang dari arah mana, dan gimana pembagian gerbongnya, sehingga calon penumpang juga tahu harus menunggu di area sebelah mana A, B atau C. jadi ngga terburu buru “eh ya ampun gerbong gw di ujung sana rupanya….”  Soalnya keretanya ngga berhenti lama!

• 

  Train to Prague

I have a very pleasant trip! Until we meet again Berlin!