I guess we have some things in common. My attitude has always been bent towards competition. Having been a college QB and SS.that's to be expected I suppose. On July 24th 2013 I crashed and broke my neck. After 8 days in the hospital I came home with C1 & C2 fused and limited ROM. I was 67 at the time. Shortly after that I started having issues with high BP. I was put on a Beta blocker and that almost killed me. I couldn't spin the pedals. I had to sleep every 6 hrs. And, I got depressed. A friend who is a Naturopathic Doctor suggested that I dump the meds and take 100% organic beet juice. That helped quite a bit and I later found out that professional athletes drink it as an energy booster. Then last year, after about 3 days of zero beet juice, I got up and took my BP. It was 170/110. Now I was concerned. But, rather than just resume the beet juice, I did some research. I was trying to see what in my diet and lifestyle might contribute to high BP. I settled on caffeine. I have been a HUGE coffee drinker. First I went to decaf and my BP dropped to 125/85. Then I experimented by taking my BP after zero coffee. Even lower. I think my low was 117/77. These days I limit my decaf as long as my BP is around 120/80. I have also managed to reign in my competitive juices except for a 7 mi. TT I do about twice a month. It's fairly flat but last year I managed a PB of 19.1 mph. If you haven't already I'd do some examination of diet and lifestyle. Good luck.