Gentlewomen, Ale and Becky Guzman

My next two featured Gentlewoman are a set of sisters, who if you glance at quickly, would think are twins, but in fact a couple years apart.  I must begin with Alejandra Guzman, or better known as Ale, she’s been a dear friend of mine since I was a sophomore in high school.  She is still the sweet and loyal friend I have known all these years.  I had the pleasure of knowing her sister Becky through her and realized while they look very much alike, they are actually very different but still the same in many ways.

These two sisters are leading two very different lives; one is a single mother working the 9-5 while the other is in the Air Force stationed in Florida.  Ale is an amazing mother.  Her son, Kique is her everything and it shows tremendously.  Becky on the other hand, took a risk and enlisted in the Air Force, something I admire greatly.  Not many people, especially women, make this commitment or dedication to something much bigger than themselves.  I believe they are such great women who are leading their lives to the fullest amongst the twists and turns their lives have taken.

Ale and Becky just completed their first FULL marathon (26.2 miles) recently in the sunny state of Florida.  The months leading up to the big day were filled with lots of dedication and I am very proud to see my friends accomplish their goals.  I love that they have become strong, independent and still managed to be the sweet girls that they are.  I admire women who strive for bigger and better because I know the inspiration is contagious.  I haven’t told anyone (except my husband), but seeing these two sisters accomplish this dream made me dream the dream of completing a full marathon.  After I did my half in November, I told my husband, wow that was hard, I can’t even imagine doing a full. Well, I tell you inspiration is grand and I received it from these two women.  It makes me feel confident in knowing and reassuring myself that there is no limit to what we as women can do if we just set our minds to it and keep our faith in tact and know that with God everything is possible.

And so I hope, just I got inspired, you do too.  Maybe it doesn’t mean completing a half or full marathon, but maybe it could inspire you in other ways.  We all have our gifts and dreams, the door is there just waiting for you to open it.

Alejandra Guzman

Rebeca Guzman

1.   For those people who don’t you, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Ale - Hello there my name is Alejandra Guzman my close friends and family call me "Ale". I was born in Guanajuato, Mexico in a very small town names Santiago Maravatio. At the age of 7 my parents brought me to Dallas, Texas and I have lived here ever since. I'm the 10th child of 11 children - yes that's a pretty big family, but I love it as we are an extremely united family. Lastly, I am a single mother to a wonderful loving 3 year old boy named Enrique Alejandro Guzman & he of course my reason for living.

Becky - Hello, My name is Rebeca Guzman and I go by several nicknames (Becky, Becca, Rebe, Revaqui, Guzzy, etc...) I am 29 yrs old; I am the youngest of 11 kids, single, no kids yet, (I am sure they will come when the time is right). I have 17 nieces and nephews, some of which I am really really close too. They even call me Mama. I was born in Mexico raised in Dallas, Texas and I currently reside in Florida. I come from a very humble Mexican family. I grew up sharing one bedroom with 4 of my sisters, so I am very close to my sisters. They are my life. I’d be lost without them. They are always there to give me advice and guide me in the right direction - especially Ale, she knows me better than I know myself. I can’t picture my life without them. I suck at shopping; I rely heavily on my sisters for that. I am a fun and crazy person and I love to make people laugh. I love working out and I love my family.

2.  I am so excited for you two as you will both compete in your first ever FULL marathon!  (26.2 miles)  I love seeing my friends doing amazing things and this is surely one of them.  Can you give some insight on your training, your dedication and what prompted you to want to achieve this goal?

Ale - Anyone that knows me since high school knows I've always been a runner although the main difference is that in high school I was simply fast without hard training. I wish I had the motivation in high school that I do for running now. Running a marathon came as a personal challenge that I knew without a doubt I wanted to accomplish one day. I feel I'm more of an educated runner now with a little bit of a runner’s background. Running a full marathon, I knew that it would take time and dedication. Training for a full marathon 26.2 miles was not easy. Having to juggle my training runs early in the morning before work was the key.  Reason being, I am a single mother and I refuse to compromise time away from my son. With that said my long runs were scheduled on weekends and yes that meant that I was getting up as early as 6am to get my run in on a Sunday morning. Going through this training I was able to learn a little more about the physical abilities my body has. I drove my body through exhaustion during my longest run 21.5 miles prior to the big day. The most challenging part was training with an injury in my right ankle. My Achilles kept acting up. I had to rest it for 2 months, but that was not an option. I had to balance my training and compromised my injury by not allowing it more rest days than it called for. The training for a marathon already changes you and none the less makes you a runner at heart! My number one motivation for running a marathon was my son. I can honestly say that I want him to look up to me and say if my Mom did it so can I. It might be crazy to say but I would love to run a marathon with my son one day!

Becky - One reason that prompted me was my sister Ale. I vividly remember dropping her off at her friend’s house at 5am on March 24, 2013 where she was meeting up with other girls to car pool to their half marathon. At this point I never imaged that I would ever run a half marathon one day, much less a FULL?! I remember thinking she’s crazy but I admired her for her dedication to running. Now here I am almost a year later completing my first full! I guess now I’m crazy like her.

The other person that prompted me was my superintendent. He is an ultra-marathoner and he gave me the confidence I needed to believe in myself. I arrived to this base December 2012.  After a few PT sessions of 5-7 mile runs he saw that I outran most of the boys from the office. He would always tell me that I was a beast and then started trying to talk me into signing up for a marathon. At this point my longest run was 8 miles, so I told him I would sign up for the Half-marathon he said “What?! NO Way! I’ve seen you run! You can run a full”, so I signed up for the full. Training was the hardest part; you have to be very dedicated to wake up at 05:30 on Sunday mornings while its dark and everyone is sleeping and run your 10-20 miles. You pretty much have to dedicate your weekends to training because Saturday nights you need to rest and go to bed early. I don’t think I’ve ever been so dedicated to anything in my life. Training is a life changing experience, it becomes a new lifestyle and you begin to look forward to these long runs as a way to get out and be free and love life. Sometimes I was miles away from my car and it started to pour, I just had to keep running and laugh at it. Sometimes I came home with bloody toes.  During runs, I would sometimes get emotional and cry just to think of the people that would give anything to be able to even walk. What a precious gift if is to be able to run.

3.  So….tell me.  How does it feel to be one of the few that can say they completed a FULL marathon?

Ale - It feels amazing to finally have fulfilled one of my personal goals. Running a full marathon makes you not only physically stronger, but mentally strong as well. It lets you know that nothing in this life is out of your reach of accomplishing with the help of God that is.

Becky - Oh I am still in disbelief that I finished - I feel like a bad ass! I feel famous when people walk up to me to tell me “I heard you ran a marathon, congratulations!” It’s really a great feeling of accomplishment. I am really thankful for all the people who cheered us on.  When you are really tired and everything hurts like never before and you still have one more hour to run those people cheering you on really help you keep moving. Spectators are there to see you and you can’t let them down. You have to keep moving. It’s as if they are your fans and you have to put on a good show for them.

4.   I love the bond the two of you share as sisters.  It’s almost like a reflection of the relationship I have with my own sister.  There are more Guzman siblings in the family, including a sibling that was murdered.  Ale once told me full story right after I experienced losing my older brother.  I know you both have mentioned your sibling as being your guardian angel and watching over you.  Can you tell me a little bit about how losing your sibling changed your life?

Ale - When I lost my sister I was only 23 years old. Losing her changed my life. My sister was the most selfless person that I have yet to know. She had a heart of an angel! I don't wish losing a loved one the way I lost my sister to anyone. After that day, I was changed.  I never knew I would be going through the experience of arranging the funeral and burial on my own. To this day I don't understand where I got the strength from as I've always been known as the most sensitive sibling. I have now learned to live with my sister in my heart. Of course it still hurts not to hear her jokes and see her beautiful smile but that would be selfish of me to want  her here on earth when she's in a better place than us enjoying the kingdom of God. I like to think that my sister is our angel that continues to protect us from up above as she did when she was with us here on Earth. I thank God for sharing such an amazing person with us for the time we had her. I know we will meet again until then the bond between my sisters here on earth is something unbreakable that at times is envied by others in a good way.

Becky - Yes, as a matter of fact we ran this marathon in dedication to her. We had customized tech tees that said on the back “We fly with our Angel’s wings” and we had wings printed on the back of our shirts. While I was training I would think of her a lot and felt as if she was there with me and the road. I would just laugh or cry. After losing my sister I learned that life is not guaranteed and I have to cherish my loved ones every second I can. The pain never goes away and to this day I get emotional talking about the subject. I always remind myself that instead of being sad I need to thank God for letting me borrow her for the years that I had her. I can’t say this brought me closer to my sisters because we have always been very close. I miss her everyday but I am at peace because I always had a great relationship with her. I’ve learned that the most precious gift is family. I can’t be happy without my family. Although I am far from them I keep in touch and keep a great relationship with all my siblings and parents. After losing my sister I sort of live in fear of something bad happening to someone else in my family. I’ve been in situations where I have no idea how I made it home safe and that’s when I know my sister has been there watching over me.

5.      Becky – you made the decision one day to join the Air Force.  Can you tell me a little bit of how that decision was made?  Also, how do you deal being away from your family and friends? 

Becky - After graduating high school, I went to college while I juggled different jobs (Sonic, cocktail waitress, Bank of America) but I was never satisfied. I always wanted to do something different and exciting out of the norm. I got my associates in Criminal Justice and I applied to many places to be a Police Officer but unfortunately never got hired. I was getting frustrated as it is a very long process to apply to the police department and then not get hired. I was annoyed. Then one day I had a talk with my sister Ale and she asked me “Have you ever thought joining the military?” Months later there I was enlisting in the Air Force. Deep down I always wanted to experience living somewhere else outside of Dallas. I like the Air Force but I don’t see myself making it a career just because I am so close to my family. I just wanted to experience it and I’ve enjoyed it, I’ve made so many lifelong friends and I can say that I have friends all over the world. That is pretty awesome.

Being away from my family has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I’ve learned that you will never know how strong you are until that is your only option. It hasn’t been easy to be away from my family but I’ve learned to live with it. At least I am fortunate to say I have an awesome family waiting for me at home and I will be back one day. I try to visit often that way I don’t feel like I’m too far away from them, and that way my 3 year old nephew will never forget about me. I miss them a lot.

6.       Ale – sitting in the car a few days ago we were just talking about how much time we wasted when we were younger.  We were talking about the things we should and could have done.  What advice do you have for women in general about waiting too long to kick start “living life to the fullest”?  What advice do you have for single moms who want to pursue their passions, but feel held back because they have children?

Ale - I believe that living your life to the fullest comes with maturity and is a part of growing up. You know the little things in life are what matter the most and what makes this life beautiful. I was young once and thought that going out to bars and night clubs was the thing to do every weekend. When instead I could have been spending more time with family, training for a marathon, furthering my education and gaining knowledge from my elders by listening to their life experiences.  I have no regrets but thinking back there's so much I could've done during those years that I didn't.

Being a single mom, nothing is easy, I chose to be a single mom and I knew that it was not an easy task, but who said anything being worth doing is easy? My son is the reason I pursue my personal goals. Running a marathon was one of them.  As a single Mom, pursuing your personal goals is amazing because you're leading an example of strength and tenacity for your young ones. We single moms are stronger than we think at times otherwise God wouldn't send us a little angel to care for. Sometimes we may think we are selfish for pursuing our personal goals as that usually takes time away from being with our kids but everything is possible and we shall be able to fulfill any personal goals that we moms may have. Our children one day will be proud of us doing so while being a wonderful mom at the same time.

7.       What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Ale - I would have to say the best piece of advice was soon after I became a mother. Like most first time moms, I was sharing with a friend that I had cried when I knew how many shots my son was going to be given during his first check up. I actually cried before he even was given the shots. Well his advice was very smart and in a very nice way he reminded me now that I was a single mom that I shall never shed a tear for certain things as natural as that. He reminded me how strong I am inside and that I shall no longer show signs of weakness. As for my son I shall be he's gladiator, unbreakable upon his eyes. Believe it or not but I have taken his advice and I believe he was correct in many ways. We women are so very strong but unless you look for that in yourself you will never know.

Becky - "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're probably right."I saw this on a sign when I was running my marathon and it is so true. Your mind is a powerful thing. In order to accomplish anything you first have to believe in yourself.

8.       Who inspires you and why?

Ale - My Mother inspires me she's the strongest woman I know. Not only did she have and care for 11 children but has always helped others with her generosity. My mom has a huge heart despite all of the tragedies and suffering in her lifetime. She loves to sing and is a women devoted to God which is the reason I believe she has the strength to move forward and continue living with such a positive attitude towards life.

Becky - Oh my God, My mother! I admire her relationship with God. She has so much faith. I hope I can be like her one day. She has been through so much and she is the happiest person I know. One month after my sister passed away, my oldest brother had a brain hemorrhage in December 2005 due to high blood pressure. This resulted in him being half paralyzed for the rest of his life. When he was released from the hospital months later they offered my mom the option to take him to a nursing home. My mother refused and said no one would take care of him better than his own mother. She has been taking care of him ever since. My mom is 71 years old and I know it’s not easy for her to take care of him because she has to shower him and pretty much take care of him like if he was a baby again. I know she is strong because of her relationship with God. It really moves my heart to see how much she has suffered all her life and how she can still smile. She is such a hard worker that never gets to rest. I admire that woman so much, just to think of everything she has been through makes me tear up. She is my superwoman.

9.       What do you think women in our generation need to hear?

Ale - Well there's so much that I believe women, some more than others, need to hear and  I would say more so in all generations. I believe that every woman has an inner beauty that if you don't feel you've reached that point in your life to where you can truly say you've found that in yourself - I challenge you to seek that. Every woman should be in love with themselves and know that no matter what we as women are extremely special from inside and out!

Becky - Be yourself, love yourself, do what you love and you will be rewarded. I believe that every woman is beautiful and they need to know that. This may be harsh to say but I am going to say it, I unfortunately know some women too close to me who think they need a man to move forward and don’t realize that they are beautiful and strong and they would be much better off without them. It makes me so mad when I see a man take advantage of a woman. Don’t get me wrong this is only in reference to bad men. If you have a great supporting husband I am more than happy for you! Congratulations!

10.   What are you most proud of?

Ale - I'm most proud of the woman I've become and I have to thank God for granting me the honor to become a mother because from that day on the person that I've become today is all thanks to my son.

Becky - I am very proud to be 100% Mexican!! I wouldn’t want it any other way, I love my roots! I love my country, the food, and oh my god the Mariachi! I am also proud to be part of the 1% that joins the military and also to be part of the 1% to say I’ve ran a full marathon.