the point is priming your system for the task at hand. Casey, I'll ask Cliff about the time period. Cliff has always said to eat breakfast no closer than 3 hours before the start of competition. If we were competing at say 10ish, I will get up aroud 6:00, be started at 6:10, and eating at 6:40. In the time between breakfast and going to the track, I'll take a warm shower and mentally prepare. For me, this has been sufficient. Oh yea, NO FALLING BACK ASLEEP!
A little about my neuro wake-up.
I try to find a hotel with a workout room. I have found that a 5 minute bike ride to get the HR up followed by an explosive moderate weight workout has done the trick. If they happen to have dumbbells (for some single arm snatches) that is just icing on the cake!