Bromo Trip 6 : Surabaya - Bromo Day 3, The Run

Check-in and Goody bag pick-up (on Saturday after our tour) :

We asked Pak Inem to drop us to Tosari Village because we wanted to check-in and pick up our goody-bag but Pak Inem insisted on waiting. He said that we already paid for the day and it was too far to go back to Baledono Village on foot.

So we went to the Tosari Field where everyone was around, people was setting up stages and booths, it was scheduled for Tengger Art Festival later in the afternoon but we had to cancel to go because Pak Inem wanted to send us back to the hotel and we haven't rested since 12am the previous night. We reached the registration booth, gave our printed copy and they gave us the goody bags consisted of Bromo Marathon t-shirts, a bottle of mineral water, several promo coupons and free lunch coupon for Sunday, everything in a white Bromo Marathon tote-bag.  

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Running Day :

Our running day started as early as 4am in the morning. The night before, we discussed with the innkeeper about our shuttle bus pick-up point. So it was confirmed that the bus will arrive roughly around 5am in front of Intan Homestay not quite far from our hotel. We waited for 4 more other runners and walked together to the pickup point. It was a 5-mins walk.

Tosari Village, where the running event was located is around 5-6km from Baledono Village - where we stayed. So soon after, we arrived to the location. It was still a bit early, the road was to be closed around 6am and our run was scheduled to start at 730am. So we waited awkwardly, pointing to random people - giving them names based on what they most resembled with :D

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Food/breakfast :

We both ate my brother's healthy energy bar consisted of kurma, nuts, oats and honey. It was the most decent stuff to be consumed before a run starts - because it was not too heavy for the stomach and it felt enough. But during half of the run, I did feel super hungry. I took a note on bringing extra energy bar for after run. Anyone interested in buying energy bar, can definitely inform me.

The run :

Here is the rough map of our run that I did not bother to study before the run. Our 10-km run consisted of 50% of road trail and 50% of dirt trail. That means the first 5-km run was quite easy because we were all running down-hill on road trail. The weather was cold, the sun started shining, the view was magnificent - everything about the first 5-km is great. That's like a honeymoon phase.

And right after we arrived at KM5 and reached the checkpoint, things started to get tough. It was almost impossible to run because we were on a stony dirt trail that we needed to hike and it never stopped. There was almost no flat-land all throughout the final 5KM. If people wanted to stop, they need to stepped aside of the road, to in front of people's house road.

This was my longest time taken to finish 10km run. I've done dozen of 10km+ run, so I never thought this would be any different from all my runs and training. But it was, because I never trained for any trail-run + uphill run before. It was also a bit annoying because I run so many runs and I trained so many times for the past 5 years and I get this result =.=

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Mistakes :

• I didn't expect 10km trail run would be tough, but it was. So, padan muka.
• I didn't understand what elevation graph meant, so I never bothered before. Now I understand what it means to run on a mountain trail. Ha.
• I didn't wear any sun-block. The weather was cold all throughout the event so it didn't felt like I was exposed to the sun much. But I did, my skin is peeling since after the run.
• Should have bring another energy bar for post-run because feeling famished while running is a weird feeling.
• Never underestimate a run that you never run in.
• Lack of uphill training. 

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Summary :

The run was fun, challenging and exhausting. I forgot what it felt to feel like this. It is interesting to be running in a such a nice weather with great mountain view. I didn't regret trying out the 10K course at all, imagine if I did register for a half-marathon, on a hilly mountain. =.= 

For anyone who runs and wants challenge. I suggest Bromo Marathon 2017, it was worth my time and money spent! But don't forget to train for uphill and downhill run, because there were almost no flat tracks in Bromo :D

Am I going to enter the run again? 

Probably not soon. If I do run at Bromo again, I make sure I train properly and ready to enter a half-marathon on a Bromo trail run.

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Post-run :

We slept in for a few hours after the run. The muscle pain were a normal pain along the legs, knee and ankle. No injuries noted.

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Bromo Trip 2 : Detailed Cost for 5 days 4 nights

I'm back from my short trip last weekend !
There are several drafted posts I finally finished writing over the weekend. It's a bit packed with words and visual - to help people who are planning on future Bromo Marathon get the insights :) Things about money, things on planning and booking, nothing about foods - because I don't like foods much and it's fairly easy to find Halal foods in Surabaya.

Hope these posts will give some benefits to future Bromo runners.

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Day-to-day activities and detailed cost taken in a small notebook :

Day 1 (Friday): Arrival to Juanda Airport

After lunch at the airport, we headed to our hostel for our short-stay. They informed us that we can use Uber to go to the hostel - we were such a noob, so calling an Uber took almost 1/2 hour because we can't find the Uber-guy that was waiting not far from our location pick-point. Calling Uber can't be too obvious, because taxi drivers in Juanda Airport won't be happy about it. But you can also use official taxis, they use meter and it's as affordable as using Uber.

Our Uber costed : 27,000 IDR
Kamariska Hostel : RM 55 per night
Foods of the day : 185,000 + 20,000 + 25,000 IDR
Groceries *indomart* : 65,000 IDR 

We checked in at Kamariska Hostel around 2.00pm, took shower, rested, had dinner, bought some groceries from the mini market, slept really early because we planned on heading to Bromo at 12.00am midnight and stay up the whole night.

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Day 2 (Saturday) : Headed to Bromo

Our day started at 12 midnight, the hotel that we booked in Bromo scheduled for our pickup from Kamariska Hostel in Surabaya to Hotel Huni Raya in Bromo. We have a lot of things planned out for the day, and all train tickets to Malang were sold-out, so we decided to take their offer *even though it was way too expensive*. We had a difficulties in understanding each other, most people we talk to can't understand what we say, haiyooh.

Our pickup costed : 500,000 IDR (Around 2 hours of silent ride in a car)

We arrived around 2 am and our next planned-Bromo-tour that we also signed up for started at 3 am. So after the guy dropped us at a strange cold place that looked like a hotel that has been left behind, and the innkeeper put us in the small surau to rest for awhile, we can't sleep. Everything was too creepy. Right when our tour-guide arrived at 2.50am, we left our bag in the surau and joined him right-away :D

His name is Pak Inem, he repeated so many times, trying to make us remember. We also had difficulties understanding each other. He can't understand me, I can only understand some words that we both use, but most of it were all gibberish. No English, no BM, not even common Indo-language that we usually hear from sinetron. Ha.

• First stop is the Penanjakan (2,770 m) - the viewpoint for our first Bromo sunrise 
• Second stop - Telletubbies hills & Savannah 
• Third stop - Whispering Sands
• Fourth stop - Bromo Creater
• Final stop - Bromo Marathon Check-In and Goody Bag Pickups

Our tour guide of the day (8-hours) + jeep rent : 750,000 IDR
Bromo National Park Access Ticket : 220,000 IDR x 2
Gojek + gloves + snowcap : 50,000 + 10,000 + 25,000 IDR
Toilets (6x) : 12,000 IDR
Bromo patches + fridge magnet : 70,000 IDR
Pisang goreng early in the morning on the mountain : 10,000 IDR
Lunch : 31, 500 IDR
Dinner : 70,000 IDR
Hotel Huni Raya (3 days 2 nights) : 900,000 IDR

*A detailed tour experience will be written in the other post. Click here to read.

The crowd in Mount Penanjakan

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Day 3 (Sunday) : Our Bromo 10-KM Run

Dinner : 40,000 IDR

*A detailed running-event experience will be written in the other post.
Click here to read.

KM 5 - 6

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Day 4 : (Bromo - Surabaya)

The view from Hotel Huni Raya

We also booked for our shuttle through Bromo Marathon event, so during our last day in Bromo - we only had to wait in front of our hotel along with the others. We had a simple breakfast of Milo packets and Koko Krunch that we brought from home, cleaned up the room, packed our bag and checked out. We waited at the lounge lazily, updating our Ig posts and all. 

2 and a half-hour after we had a crazy shuttle bus ride, we arrived at the Juanda Airport again. Our flight was originally scheduled for the next day afternoon, so we were supposed to have more time - but somehow Airasia re-scheduled it to early in the morning at 7.30 am. So we have no extra hours in Surabaya as we planned. 

We didn't manage to find Uber to send us, so I mistakenly picked up unofficial Taxi alongside of the airport. He tried to trick us into paying 70,000 IDR for just a 4km ride. I managed to make him agree to 50,000 IDR - even though it was still double the price of our previous ride. Annoyed but can't argue at people's place lah. 

Unofficial taxi : 50,000 IDR
Dinner : 28,000 IDR
Kebab : 16,000 IDR
Groceries : 241,000 IDR
Kamariska Hostel : RM 55

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Day 5 : (Our Flight Home)

We woke up at 4 am in the morning, the innkeeper already made the booking call to the taxi service to pick us up and send us to the airport at 5 am. By 4.30 am we already cleaned up the room and checked out. We sat in the kitchen hall to wait for the taxi driver. He arrived at 4.50am, so we were both pretty early when we arrived at the airport.

We already checked in, walked through the airport and got nothing much to do until our flight at 840 am, so we bought 2 buns from Kopi O's - like Roti Boy's and also splurge on Starbucks Mocha Frappucino. We also went to the last minute shopping for the souvenirs : I bought a lot of chocolates for my families. 

Official Taxi : 22,000 IDR
Breakfast + Starbucks : 20,000 + 56,000 + 17,000
Souvenirs : 310 + 115 IDR

The flight took almost 2 hours, I was a bit hyper-active due to a lot of caffeine for breakfast. So while Af doze-off, I doodled everything that happened during our trip - one shot. I managed to fill in 6-pages in my sketch book :D 

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Total : 5,385,500 IDR ( RM1,678 ) + RM 1,090 
RM 2,768 for two
Roughly around RM 1,384 per person

Details :
Flights : RM 440 x 2
Transportation + Tour : 2,151,000 IDR
Accommodation : RM 110 + 900,000 IDR
Foods : 355,500 IDR
Groceries + Souvenirs : 979,000 IDR
Bromo Run : 500,000 IDR x 2

Note :
My earliest plan was to use around RM 1,000 for everything in this 5days 4 nights trip. But seeing we can't find cheaper flight than RM 440 per person, we had to extend our budget. The main things we manage to do in this short trip are : touring in Bromo National Park and the Bromo 10km Run. We did nothing in Surabaya because we only spent several hours in the city.

I also noticed that it is cheaper to go in a group of 3-4 people, so share for taxi fares, tour trips and accommodations, compared of going for 2. Anyhow, if you are planning on your next Bromo Marathon, try to find 3 more friends to tag along, you can save a lot :)

Foods can be expensive and hard to find in Bromo if you are not staying at the main village like Tosari *where the event was held and Wonokitri. We stayed in Baledono, so we were both remotely far from others and it was hard to go anywhere. 

Bromo Trip 1.1 : Bromo Marathon 2016, Surabaya - Pre Planning Part 2

This is a scheduled post written starting on early August 2016 :

Things I buy for the run this time :

Running pack - Bought cheap one from Lazada, seeing that I'll rarely use it while running. This time I had to bring one to keep all important items while running : phone, keys, cards, ID and money. The one I bought is the super slim version, because I don't want it to be visible and bulky when I put it on. I just want to keep all the small items along. 

I bought it for only RM 18 with free shipping. No brand.

Pedometer - I'm still using my old iPhone 4s with an extremely weak battery, so it can't no longer record my running time for more than 7km. My fastest and easiest way to replace this is to buy a pedometer like the one people used to wear while running. Just slip it to my tracksuit/running pack and it works like magic ! It records my running distance(km), calories burned and walking steps. It uses the small battery like the one in our watch and it can be used for long - no need to charge it over and over. Tried it twice while running on track-mill and it recorded almost the same distance, just 100 meters difference. I changed the running distance steps with the calculation they provided in the manual. I'm so happy with this purchase. 

I bought it for only RM 16 with free shipping. No brand.

Pain Relief Patch - Last time we went to Japan and walked everyday for more than a week, + almost more than 8 hours a day non-stop. We had a really bad foot sores and aching legs for days when we explored the city because we didn't want to waste the time on resting except during night time. So this time, we will come prepared !

I bought it for only RM 3 - 10 small patches. Cosmopas.

Knee guard - Did I mentioned that my knee got injured after my 1-month of squatting challenge? Well, yes. It hurts to run, it hurts to bend =.= It's been over a month, and it still makes odd cracking sound, all just because of my own stupid challenge. So now I had to wear knee guard to support it and avoid more injury. I think I bought one that is a bit too small for my fat knee and it was really uncomfortable during the first week. But I've been using it for my training and washing it every time as well, so it stretched comfortably a bit.

I bought it for RM 18 - promotional item on the shelves. Lonsdale.

Track suit - Who would have thought that I finally over-worn my tracksuit and it makes holes everywhere :D It is time for a new one that I'll be using over and over again.
So I bought one from Aeon Big for RM 23. No brand.

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For foods : We bought Milo packets, Maggi, and Lexus biscuits. 

I think that's it !

I decided to use my old running shoes in the run and just leave/donate it later afterwards so I don't have to bring it back. I will buy a new one when we come back from the trip. I used my running shoe for over 3 years, and it looks a bit worn-out. It is used for over 600km run + run by now.

Bromo Trip 1.0 : Bromo Marathon 2016, Surabaya - Pre Planning Part 1

This is a scheduled post written starting on June 2016 :

We registered for Bromo Marathon 2016 !

The event is on the 4th of September 2016, and we've been planning for about a month before we decided on registering for the event - *to make some budget planning, route planning, places to stay and all. 

Registration :

There are 2 reasons why we chose the event :

• The location - Af asked me to go to Bromo before, but seeing that it's not really a 'touristy' place, and it took several hours to explore and hike on the mountain and we probably need a guide and we will be the only 2 people and we are awkward with everything and I think too much after watching Everest - so I decided that we won't be going to such places without a proper plan. I'm not adventurous, I know that and I get anxious easily. So, the event took place at a place that we both want to go, and on those days, there will be a lot of people : tourists, runners, local people, polices, volunteers - and so I saw a great chance along with security. So I pointed out the plan to Af, and he agreed :D 
• Running event - I love to run. Who wouldn't want to join a running event alongside the Bromo Mountain ? Run, hillside, nice environment, Bromo = yes. 

The registration was fairly easy, just fill in the digital form from their website and pay using a credit/debit card. There are only 10km, 21km and 42km categories : it would be unfair to ask Af to train for more than what he agreed for *because he hates running and he runs because I always ask people to run :D , so we chose the 10km run instead. For this, we have time to enjoy the environment and just have fun. 

The registration fees : 500,000 IDR x 2
Shuttle bus Tosari > Surabaya : 175,000 IDR (one day after the event) x 2
Total : 1,350,000 IDR

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Flights :

We've been eyeing the ticket price for the Airasia flight tickets for awhile, it was around RM400+ for each person - return ticket to Surabaya. Suddenly there was the "AirAsia Big Promo" that offered for only RM 400 for 2! It was half the original price. But unfortunately we missed the big AirAsia promo just one day before we can really buy it.

We bought the tickets in the middle of July, when they gave out 20% on all tickets :

This include : 
2 return tickets from Kul - Surabaya (Airasia), seat replacements, insurance, payment fees.
Total : RM 980.88 - RM 490.44 per person

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Accommodation :

There were so many nice places in Surabaya so it was quite easy to find decent place to stay there. But it was quite hard to find places to stay in Bromo - also much more expensive than in the city. We already booked our stays in Surabaya using Airbnb early in August but we took some time finding a place to stay on the weekends in Bromo.

Finally we decided to book a hotel through Agoda - because all places are fully booked through Airbnb for the running event and the homestays through Bromoku uses bank transfer method to book. We had no other choice but to book for a 1-star hotel.

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Training :

I did some online research and found out about their running path - there will be more hills than all the runs I entered. I never really trained for hill running, as Murakami mentioned before; that other than long-distance run, he is quite good with uphill runs :F So even though I ran 10km so many times by now, running uphill for 10km won't be the same if I never trained for that. 

For this training :

• I added more 'Incline' stages on tread-mill and stationary bike.
• We hiked the Bukit Nanas Hill - the hundreds and hundreds of steps. 
• We ran at our 14-floors parking lot several times a week before berbuka during Ramadhan. 
• We started running in the hilly park in Bukit Jalil on the weekends.
• I tried 30-days squatting challenge but my left knee got injured on the last day - it has been almost a month and it is still not fully healed :/

This would be our running track :

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Book :

I chose to bring "What I Talk About when I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami for the trip. Bagi semangat pelari sikit.