It was a busy Monday. I had exactly one million and one things on my to-do list, but instead of hunkering down at my computer tapping away at the keys like Liberace, I was sitting in a French café sipping a lavender mimosa in the middle of the afternoon with three dear friends. For the record, I had taken a 6 a.m. spin class that morning, so at least there’s that.

Drinking mimosas in the middle of a workday — a Monday no less — is not something I’ve ever done. But then again, my best friend, who also happens to be a mom of two girls, had never had a double mastectomy before or been about to start five months of chemo and radiation.

So yes, we drank mimosas on a Monday.

It’s powerful moments like these that explain why I’ve been largely absent the past few months with fewer articles about running and photos on social media. I started this website seven years ago (good God how has that much time gone by!?!) because I was profoundly changed by the courage and power that come from doing something you once thought was impossible (i.e., running a marathon) and discovering that you’re stronger than you think (i.e., running seven more marathons and shaving an hour off your finish time in the process). Once you’ve run long enough, you learn that running is SO much more than just running. It’s about finding and unleashing the full potential inside you, not just on the pavement (or trails), but every day in everything we do.

But somewhere down the line, websites like this that started as personal stories to engage and inspire others got overrun with sponsored posts and search engine optimization and the rat race to grow Instagram followers. The democratization of branding and commercialization of blogging have led to authentic runners with authentic voices now taking months of professional photos to increase their likes while oozing inspiration porn in just about every single message. Isn’t it possible that some days you just run four completely average miles and are #done? No message about body positivity. No story about overcoming obstacles. No intense experience of struggle. Just those four miles. C’mon, there’s got to be at least one normal day, right???

The more of this content I see, the more I pulled away. Running is still an important part of my life. I’m running several times a week at a pretty pedestrian pace with great friends. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make for a very compelling storyline. At least 250 people who’ve stopped following me on Instagram when I started posting less content about training and more of leisurely jogs and a damn cute baby can confirm that as fact. Real life is for the birds, eh?

Which brings me back to sports bras and Instagram.

Maybe it’s the season of life I’m in. Maybe I’ve changed as I’ve gotten older. Maybe it’s just that when you have a best friend dealing with the reality of breast cancer and you’re running a business that’s actually trying to make a difference in the world while holding onto every moment of your daughter’s childhood … you just don’t give a damn if someone is wearing a sports bra on Instagram or if they feel good about it. (Or what they ate for dessert. Or who paid them to post about the latest running gadget. Or …, well, you get the point.) Don’t get me wrong, I want to be the first to line up to celebrate others’ victories. I actually love social media and appreciate it for the many connections it brings to my daily life. I’ve even posted about sports bras before and got my mom in on the action (GASP!). I’m simply yearning for the days when the messages and the messengers were more authentic and when we didn’t miss living an imperfectly perfect moment because we were too busy trying to capture it from its best angle.