Taking stock of our experience so far I've come to the following realizations:
1) It's really easy to overdo the exercise thing. Our first response to tiredness or sleep dep has been to go for a walk, run, bike ride, or swim. We're beat. We need to lighten up a little.
2) You are building up a sleep debt while you adapt and there is no way to pay it back as long as you stick rigorously to the schedule. We are scheduling extra naps, an alternative would be to allow one or two "catch up" cores.
3) We've been mostly napping with the Placebo track. We haven't had any oversleeps and always wake up when it ends. It does seem to make it so I don't remember my dreams though. I'm sure I'm dreaming and getting REM sleep or I wouldn't be at all functional. I remember several dreams each time I nap without the track, but I don't wake up as refreshed.
4) I've been mostly sleeping in a comfy reclining chair. When I nap in the bed I feel like I sleep better, but wake up groggy, probably from sleeping too deeply. In the chair I usually wake up spontaneously before the nap is even over. In the bed I never do.
5) Caffeine and alchohol in moderate quantities are inconsequential for us. At times I've consumed pharmaceutical quantities of Diet Coke with no ill effects. I haven't had more than one beer in any period (and none in the vast majority) but I haven't seen any problems there either. I suspect a good bender would throw things off though.
6) I'm baffled by all the alarm clock business I read. We haven't had any trouble at all waking up at the end of naps and I haven't used anything but the Placebo track or my iPhone timer. Alex, on the other hand, might have trouble on his own. I've found him still comatose with the Russian Techno at the end of Placebo blasting away.
7) This is going to rock when we get it dialed in :-)