Williams’ Sleeper-Cross Eligibility under Review

The international sleeper-cross has been rescheduled to start on Jan 15 because of a dozer doping scandal. I wanted to let my fans know up front - so that everything is out in the open. The federation is considering revoking my pro-dozer status and disqualifying me from competition in the Sleeper-Cross. I wanted to be the first to make a statement before accusations spin out of control in the press.

As the federation was evaluating each dozer’s application for the sleeper-cross they performed (as they should) an exhaustive current and historical dozer doping evaluation. Four years ago I had a prescription for Ambien filled under my name for my ex-wife. As a result my eligibility is under review. I would like to emphasize that I have never taken Ambien in my life. Not during a competition. Not during a holiday. Never.

I know that that the federation is just running protocol in this case and I do appreciate the fact that the start date for entire event has been pushed back until January 1st 2007 in effort to give the federation enough to deliberate on my status. I’ve had some brief conversations with hall of famer dozers who are now on the federation to get an inside track on the situation and I can assure my fans and competitors out there that we’re really not looking at a threat of my being removed from the competition. For one, this competition needs Barret Williams to christen this event with the status it deserves and two; it’s not uncommon for a star – think of Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong to be used as a patsy to in order to serve the greater good. The great good being a dope free pro-dozer circuit. See you on the sleep-cross!

Barrett Williams Returns from Global Sleeper Retreat

The man that slept around the world in 180 days

Groggy apologies to all you dozers and dozer fans who must have felt so abandoned for last 9+ months that spanned my dozer training expedition. I had to put myself under the radar, off the map and into the global dreamscape. As many of you already know, the first Global Sleeper Cross will drift into gear on December 21 2006, or the night of this year’s Winter solstice.

But the guilt I feel at having left my legions of supporters without warning is only tempered by my success over the last months. Where was I? TRAINING. Yes. The best dozers sleep the hardest because they train. But before I go any further I have to thank my sponsors, The North Face, Dakine, Coleman, Volkl, and CamelPak for supporting what is sure to become a ritual and rite of passage for all competitive dozers world wide. My seminal Global Sleeper Retreat takes the street level approach and the “anywhere-anytime” attitude of New School dozing to a global, geographical, geological and absolutely sociological level that anticipates the future inter-planetary dozing. Trust me – I might be in my final sleep by the time the federation permits inter-planetary dozing. But mark my words. We all dream in space and will all dream in space. See where I’m coming from? Now I know I’m ranting like a world class surfer but then I remember that it was Vince Lombardi that said that “every dream is a wave and every wave a dream.” Ahhh. Vince. See. It takes a legend like Vince Lombardi to convince the world that dozers and surfers inhabit the same zones.

We’ve talked about training before so I don’t need to stress the importance of sleeping on site. Testing beds. Surfaces. Understanding the air flow of your sleep zone. I will cover all these things and more as I detail a few of the custom training sessions that I created specifically for the Global Sleeper Cross.

Night
BW

Wide Awake Sleep Fast - 2006

Friday’s ‘Wide Awake Sleep Fast’ session was the best ever! Vince Lombardi was definitely watching from the sidelines above. Lombo would be proud. Dozers drop his famous quote all over the circuit: “Great sleepers don't succeed on sleep alone. Great sleepers shape their slumber with the events of their waking lives. Having the full knowledge that every waking moment will contribute to or be reflected in his sleep, a great sleeper embraces each waking moment with a measured gusto; for it is our consiousness that defines our unconsciousness." V. Lombardi. But on Friday night WE LIVED IT!

I’d like to thank the core group of Dozers who put the pedal to the metal. Parents know how much I enjoy the Jr. Dozer Sleep-Away Camp but in terms of Federation Certified training, ‘Wide Awake’ is at the top of my list. I have to admit that I was so excited about this year’s event that it took me 8.5 minutes to slip into the zone on the night prior. So many Hall-of-Famers skip this event each year. But I’m not going to police attendance on this one. They’ll be here next year and we’ll have the edge. Dozers love what they do. Sleep that is. Any fan who knows me knows that I'm not single, I'm married to sleep. This relationship is a life-long commitment. Divorce is not an option for me. Strong as my love may be, I had a fantastic time staying up for not 24 but 32 hours during this session. My sincere thanks goes out to this year’s set of’ Wide Awake’ Dozers for making sleep starvation such a darn good time.

I can’t record the kind of breakthroughs the group achieves when we run waking drills for 24 hours straight through. Frankly, it just doesn't translate after the fact. Last night's attendees were the smartest, hard working group of Dozers I've met since the mid-nineties sessions at New York’s West 27th St. Hall.

In the past its taken me up to 4 hours to explain the driving force behind the this event. It’s really quite simple. If you want to sleep better, harder and faster you have to understand and study your conscious state. You have to map out your breathing, track your temperature cycles, eye dilation patterning, and of course be able to clearly identify when you feel tired. What time does it happen to you? Where are your serotonin levels when you feel tired, and where do they drop to when you push through it during a 'Wide Awake' session?

Event Stats and Highlights:
Star Time: 6pm Friday, January 13th

Crowd:
The crowd was diverse, black, white, Philippino, Latino, gay, straight, married, you name it. I even heard that there were a couple of “straight queens” at the session. I’m not quite sure what that means but it might make a winning match if the single gay dozers and these “straight queen” dozers pair up and sleep together at the Hampton’s Doubles matches in this spring.

New Dozer:
I had the honor of meeting the other half of a 'Figure Dozing' team that had since appeared solo. I had worked with Laura at a few other events and could see her potential but I couldn't get a handle on her competitive force without meeting her partner. I knew we had a couple of pros in-house when Stewart her husband and 'Figure Dozing' partner arrived with a set of rainbow colored pajamas.



Safety Naps:
Dozers, Sagi, Eileen, James, Laura and Zak all dropped into coma naps as a safety precaution when their dopamine meters went into the red. After a 72 minute coma each of then seamlessly jumped back into the session, renewed and vigorous. Hats off!

Aerobics:
The level 4 aerobics portion of the session was far more rigorous than last y ear. It’s not every day that you get to see athletes who are famous for sleeping working out a full-body sweat. No doubt this outstanding group intuitively understood that exercise is the balance of your sleeping and waking state and that every bead of sweat only serves to season our eminent slumber.

I admire where the New Schoolers are taking the sport but I have to let them know the Wide Awake Dozers, met directly with the Sand Man himself on Saturday morning and we’re coming into 2006 with a brand new bag!

Event End Time: 3pm Saturday, January 14th

Sleep well sleep hard! You earned it. Good luck on the circuit in 2006

Barrett’s ‘Wide Awake’ Sleep Stats
Nightly Session #12308
PREP: shower, fluid jettison x 2
Bed Time: 11:39pm Sleep Notes: Temperatue was perfect. The air, my comforter and my body were running at a match temp. Sleep movement was minimal. Wake Up Time: 11:40am Session Rating: 9.8. Dreamless but peaceful

Dozer in Training: How do I Pick the Best Sleeper Suit?

Sara "Get Sleep or Die Tryin" Summers said...
"Barrett,What type of Sleeper Suit do you recommend? I would really appreciate your expertise on such a highly critical matter. After scrimping & saving (and losing valuable sleep time worrying about it!), I've finally pulled together enough money to partake in the exclusive Dirty Dozen Boot Camp next month. I want to make sure that I'm as well prepared as possible to up my chances of making the team. It's been my dream as long as I can remember. Just in case it makes a difference, I'm an "Ambien mickey downed with a warm milk/chamomile tea cocktail while I hone in on my sleeping goals/possible setbacks/ aspirations for that night" kind of girl. I appreciate the feedback, and kudos for raising the competitive sleeping bar a little higher with each & every one of your mind-blowing sessions. Very impressive. "
5:55 PM
Barrett Williams said...
Sleeper Suits are for Sleeping – Pick the right Suit for You and Sleep DeepThe Dirty Dozen Boot Camp? Really? I remember when that was an after-school dozer program developed to keep the Boyz in the hood out the hood and in the bed. It sure has come along way since then. Last I heard, they were integrating Clown Dancing with Figure Sleeping and dreaming it out head to head on the street. I haven’t been down there in awhile so I know that myself (and the community in general) would appreciate any posts you can submit from the Dirty Dozen front.

While Sleeper Suits have come in and out of style among the pros, anyone over 25 on the circuit will agree that Sleeper Suits are to Competitive Sleeping what the Womb is to birth. As with slippers and general dozerwear, the perfect sleeper suit can be defined only by the sleeper. I say set all trends aside. Just because Maya Shape is wearing it to the Falklands Nationals doesn’t mean it’s right for you.

Simply consider the following: 1. Sleep environment – Outdoors? Indoors? Winter? Summer? 2. Internal body temperature – are you a hot sleeper or a cool sleeper? 3. Versatility – are you looking for a suit that will let you sleep during any occasion during any season?

If I’m going Coma I almost always pull out a Sleeper Suit. And for me that always means a 1 piece. Don’t let dozer outfitters in Miami try to sell you a 2-piece Sleeper Suit. 2 pieces = pajamas! In the summer my suit might be a light pressed Egyptian cotton and in Winter I’ll turn to the old-school practicality of a waffle-weave. I find that flannel is too hot for my internal temperature no matter what time of year.Zippers vs. Buttons:As flashy as dozerware became in the 80’s, stay away from zippers. Dozers lose all the time because a hot, cold or jagged zipper shocks them awake. Buttons. Buttons all the way.Booties:All natural of course.

Don’t be drawn in by hi-tech fabrics like Polypropylene. Outdoor hiking fabrics and gear etc… should never be confused with dozerwear. Outdoor enthusiasts will always say the same thing. “Don’t use cotton as your first layer. It holds sweat in.” Ignore them. We’re not hiking we’re sleeping, and if we’re sweating then something’s wet in dreamland. Remember soaking in those plastic booties when you were a kid? Exactly. Make sure the bootie is the same natural fabric as the suit so that you have an even in, and out, heat flow from head to toe. Keep in mind that I consider the booties a warm-up tool. As you may know, I’m an open footed sleeper unless the conditions are adverse so I always make sure that my sleeper suit has half-detachable or fully detatchable booties so that I can generate flow-through from my head to my ankle cuffs. I hope that helps.Let us know about the Dirty Dozen Camp. We’ll be happy to open up a page where you can detail your experiences, training and heck even jot a dream or two.

Hey, and I love that you came right out about the Ambien and the Chamomile. So many young dozers start out lying to themselves and to their fans.