The interactive part of South by Southwest kicked off Friday, and Rick Perry dropped by the CNN Grill (set up in MAX’s Wine Dive) to talk technology and politics with Peter Hamby.

Perry, whose arm was in a sling from a recent shoulder surgery he had for an old mountain biking injury (“it didn’t look that steep”), told Hamby he managed his own Twitter feed from the presidential campaign trail, apparently the only candidate to do so. 

He also discussed his decision to tweet about his intention to stay in the race after his lackluster showing in the Iowa primary. “And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State…Here we come South Carolina!!” Perry tweeted on January 4, along with a photo of himself clad in winter running gear.

“How did that happen?” asked Hamby. “Did you tell your staff you were going to tweet that?”

“No,” replied Perry. “I just went for a run and decided to press on.” He dropped out fifteen days later. 

Perry also reflected on some things he have done differently during his presidential bid, including holding off on spine surgery and “getting in earlier … ya know, the preparation for it, the idea you can just stroll in there and be in the mix and be successful, I think is a bit of a stretch. But, anyway, you live and learn.” 

When asked by Hamby what he would do in 2016, Perry responded, “Work on some debate skills and always remember the third thing.”