Todd Crandell: the conversation

Mornings in the Lab · Interview transcript

You can say you want to change and still wake up choosing the same thing that's wrecking you. That's because habits, even destructive ones, can feel safer than the uncertainty of choosing differently. Todd Crannell lived inside that pattern for over a decade. He started drinking at 13. By his 20s, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and prescriptions controlled his life. A promising hockey career ended with expulsion for cocaine use. Then came homelessness, jail, and three drunk driving charges. At three years old, he lost his mother to addiction and suicide. In 1993, after his third drunk driving charge, he quit everything. He went from daily dependency to total withdrawal overnight. No treatment center, no program. 6 years later, he crossed his first Iron Man finish line. Since then, he has completed 128 Iron Man races in over 25 countries across six continents. He founded Racing for Recovery to bring people and their families into the same room and confront addiction directly. He is a licensed counselor, a seven-time author, and the subject of four documentaries. Todd believes addiction and sobriety are choices. Today, we are going to examine what that means and why it challenges everything. Nation, this is going to be a powerful conversation. Todd, welcome to Mornings in the Lab.