Miracle on Ice, 2009 Style

I am currently in Lake Placid, NY, for Skate America. I left Natick around 8 a.m. yesterday morning and arrived here around 2:40 p.m. after stopping at a mall in Albany for lunch. The first competition of the day was the compulsory dance at 3 p.m. and then the pairs’ short program and men’s short program took place this evening.

Some of the highlights of the day:

• Seeing Shen and Zhao skate a magical short program. I learned later that their score was the highest pairs’ short program score ever. In a word, wow.
• Almost running into Emily Hughes as I was heading for the arena. I think I acted cool and didn’t react too much.
• Finally seeing a compulsory dance competition. I didn’t really know what to watch for, but it was still interesting to see the same routine done by every couple.
• The beautiful costume worn by ice dancer Anna Cappellini from Italy. Click here for a picture.
  
• Seeing Evan Lysacek win the short program (even though France’s Florent Amodio’s program was even more impressive and surprising).
• Overhearing Peter Carruthers' conversation at the restaurant. It almost made up for having to eat by myself.
• Having DSLR envy. People have impressive cameras at this event. I don’t ever remember seeing fans with such long lenses . . . it can be a little distracting.
• Seeing the Olympic rings everywhere around town. I was so excited driving past the Olympic Center.
• The beautiful scenery driving up here.
  

Today I get to see the original dance, pairs' long program, ladies' short program, and men's long program. I'm really looking forward to seeing Kim Yu-Na from South Korea. She's the current world champion and just amazing. Since the competition doesn't begin until 2 p.m., I'll be exploring Lake Placid until then.

This is the (skating) life!