Pack your bags, because The Amazing Race is back! Every week, Parade’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the team most recently eliminated from the race.

The first episode of The Amazing Race 31 was a crash course in all things racing around the world for the teams hailing from Survivor and Big Brother. That allowed the former racers to crush the competition, finishing in four of the top five spots in the very first leg. But experience did not seem to benefit Border Patrol agents Art Velez and J.J. Carrell in this case. The season 20 runners-up failed to find their footing in Tokyo and slipped further when a physical Roadblock led them to take a penalty, cutting their second chance at the million short.

Art and J.J.’s second race struggled from the start, as they got lost wandering the chaotic maze of Shibuya. The spent hours milling about the world’s busiest intersection, winding up in last place as they approached the first Roadblock. Luckily, Rupert and Laura Boneham did not have a walk in the park trying to find the second Roadblock in Shiba Koen. This allowed the best friends to pass them, with Art primed for redemption after contributing to their ultimate loss the first time around. But a loss of 40 pounds couldn’t stand up to the moist mountain, and he found his body beginning to give out. Seeing no way of completing this, they opted to take a penalty, and could only watch as the beard bared down to summit the slippery slope, eliminating them from the race.

Now out of the race, Art and J.J. talk with Parade about what made them decide to quit the Roadblock, how they first reacted to returning, and more.

What was your first reaction to finding out you would be coming back for a second chance eleven seasons after your original run?

Art Velez: When we got the call, it was surreal. We always wanted to get back on the race, but as more time we went by, we never thought it would ever happen again. Then we got the call, and they asked, “Hey guys, do you want to do this?” We were like, “Heck yeah!” It was a shot at redemption, even though it was seven years later. But we were ready. We had been through it, so we knew what to expect. We were both in positions in our lives where we could still pick up and go, so it was pretty exciting.

What were your thoughts when you found out about returning to compete against Survivor and Big Brother players?

J.J. Carrell: I was excited. I’m a huge fan of Survivor and Amazing Race, so I knew a lot of the people. I also thought we would have the upper hand because we knew the inner workings of the race. There’s a learning curve. The first time we did it, it took us about two or three legs to figure out the nuances while you’re on the race. When we won our first leg in Paraguay, we looked at each other and were like, “Okay, we’ve got this. We know how this is supposed to look and how it should go down. This isn’t where you sit around and talk and scheme on an island or in a house. You better get out there and figure out what you’re doing quick, or you’re going to be left behind.

Let’s jump ahead to what ultimately ended your race. Art, can you elaborate on what was happening as you tried to navigate up that ramp?

Art: When we got to it, it’s weird and almost surreal. Your mind plays tricks on you. I remember on season 20 when I got to the sled Roadblock, I said, “Oh, this is going to be a piece of cake.” It didn’t work out that way. So when we got there, I looked at it and thought, “Okay, all I’ve got to do is climb up it, grab the clue, and we’re done.” I automatically assumed it was going to be an easy challenge. Then once I started going up it, I was like, “Oh, this isn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be.” As it progressed, I realized it was going to be brutal.

Once my legs locked up, I was like, “I can’t believe this is happening.” I went back to that thought process of assuming it would be an easy thing because it’s something you do at a school fair. It’s not like I’ve never been able to go up one of these things. I’ve been through SWAT Academy and Search and Rescue Academy; I’ve never had my body fail on me before. Both my legs locked up and I couldn’t get rid of the cramps. They only showed seconds on it, but I cramped up for a good 45 minutes. I couldn’t move; it had never happened to me before. It was hard to process the fact that I couldn’t count on something that had never gone out on me.

J.J., what was it like watching from the sidelines? And what prompted you two to ultimately decide to quit the Roadblock and take the penalty?

J.J.: I’ve seen every episode of The Amazing Race, so I knew the rules. It’s hard to see your friend struggle like that. I asked Art, “Are you going to be able to do this?” And he’s like, “No. There’s no way. My legs are cramping; I can’t do it.” I think that there’s no chance we’re the last team there, so I needed to list the options strategically. We realized there’s another team behind us. I thought, “Let’s take the penalty because he’s not going to do it in 30 minutes, an hour, or even three hours. Maybe there’s a team who screws up even more than us that they won’t be able to do it either and we can finish second-to-last.” They also told us there might be Head-to-Heads at the end of each leg, so I thought, “Maybe I can take this penalty, and we’ll do a Head-to-Head when we get there.” They also had one other season where there was a non-elimination in the first leg [in season 15, also in Japan]. So I thought, “Why not take the penalty, get to the next leg, eat the penalty, make it up in travel, then get back in the race?” It was more of a strategic decision, knowing the rules and the way the game was designed. We took a shot, and it just didn’t work out.

Within 30 or 40 minutes, we saw Rupert and Laura. We hoped that Laura would have to do the Roadblock because Rupert is a dominator. But he did it, and we ended up like we ended up. It was easily the worst-case scenario. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong for us.

Art: On top of that, even if we would have completed that thing, it probably took me about three days to be able to walk again. My legs were that jacked up. Even if we would have made this thing, I don’t know if we could keep going! I couldn’t walk. That was another thing that had happened to me before. To not even be mobile because of my body, that was the biggest eye-opener for me. When we got to the Pit Stop and had to walk up all those stairs, I’m looking at them going, “(Laughs.) How am I going to get up there?!” It took forever.

On that note of the worst-case scenario, things did not start well in Japan when you guys got incredibly lost looking for the first clue. What was going on there?

J.J.: It’s hard to articulate how to do The Amazing Race unless you’ve done it. Everything’s compounding, and you’re trying to get everyone to help you with your cell phones. But nothing would translate from Japanese to English; nobody knew where it was. It just progressively got worse. We had been running for maybe two hours non-stop with no water. Even after all that catastrophe, we still had a chance to finish that leg. Art and I were so used to being the top three; we felt we could do it again in this one. But we also thought, “Who cares? Let’s just make it leg to leg and get to the final three, then get through that last hurdle and we can win it.”

Did you guys try to work with any teams to try to find that clue?

Art: I don’t think we ever did.

J.J.: When we came out [onto the plaza], nobody knew what they were doing. Art and I thought, “Should we pair up? Should we try to talk to somebody?” But we thought we’d figure it out; we always figured it out on our last season. I know there’s safety in numbers. A couple of people ran by and we talked, but nobody knew where to go or how to find it. So we decided to go off on our own. It just didn’t work out.

Art: One of the things in our benefit during season 20 is that we started in South America. It was a huge plus that we spoke Spanish and didn’t need to overcome the language barrier. In Japan, we didn’t understand the language or writing. The communication piece is so vital to the race, being able to talk with the locals. It was such a barrier for us.

One of the members of the other teams is Rachel Reilly, who you raced with back in season 20. What was it like racing alongside her again?

Art: When Rachel’s sister was there, I realized they were like twins. They’re loud and out there in their colors. And I thought, “Hey, if they take attention away from us so we can do our thing, and they can be the drama, more power to ’em.” Rachel’s great; she’s harmless. She knows how to play the game. It was good to see her again. Now she’s a mom and approaches stuff a little differently. But Rachel’s Rachel. The Reilly sisters are always going to be the Reilly sisters.

Did you have impressions of any other teams, especially when it comes to which show could ultimately outperform the other two?

J.J.: I don’t think anybody’s going to blaze through. You have to go on Amazing Race knowing that you’re going to get bogged down somewhere. In season 20, we bogged down hard in India. It’s one of those legs where all of our decisions went wrong, but we were able to squeak it out. But there were racers like Colin and Christie; she’s very smart, and he’s very athletic. Then you have the Afhganimals, who have raced twice, and Tyler and Korey, who are very smart and savvy guys. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But to be honest, we really thought we were going to make it all the way. We had the experience and knew how things would be thought out. It was a calamity of errors.

Art: I was more nerded out by seeing Rupert. I’d been watching him for forever! That was cool to see him and meet his wife. I’m not really a Big Brother guy, but the Survivor people made me starstruck. I was geeked out on the tye-dye.

What were you most disappointed about in losing the race so early?

J.J.: We missed out on an incredible opportunity to see the world through a different lens and all the experiences and memories. That’s the hardest part. It’s not winning as much as missing out on the totality of The Amazing Race.

Was there anything you learned from your second time out on the course?

Art: Time takes a toll on the body. I truly believe that you have be in really good shape to run the race. I came in seven years older and was just like, “Holy cow, did that really just happen?” When we did it seven years ago, I was 40 pounds heavier. Now I think I should have put on some muscle weight as opposed to just being light. It’s just the way the body reacts to that type of stress over time. Back when we were working, season 20 was more of a rest. We got more rest than we did on the race due to our jobs. Seven years later, we’re in an office and not out doing things we usually do. I took this time really takes a toll on you.