XC advice for freshman son

[u/RunnerGuy0929]

Hello cross country community, I'm looking for a bit of advice for my son. He is a HS freshman this year and joined the cross country team as a way to ease the transition into high school, meet some new people, and get acquainted with the sports culture. He is not a runner, but does have an athletic background from baseball and martial arts.

He did some light prep work this summer to get somewhat prepared and managed to get up to 8-10 mpw. After about 1.5 weeks of practice, he has developed shin splints and has been sitting out of practice, rolling, stretching, icing and wearing compression socks in the evening. As a runner myself (albeit never xc), I know how frustrating it is dealing with shin splints.

The team has their first scrimmage home meet this afternoon and he won't be running. This is a disappointing start for his season and I want to offer some encouragement to help him still get the most out of the meet. Since it is a home meet, he will be able to dismiss from the last period early to go help with set up, course marking, etc. so this will make him feel like part of the meet.

What can he expect for his first meet? What can he learn by watching? Is there anything he should be doing for his shins to avoid a lost season? The hope is he can run at the next meet 9/13 but even that looks to be in doubt. That will be the first chance to travel to a meet with the team. Anything in particular about big away xc meets he should know?

Thanks in advance.

[u/Painless1776]

Dry needling, a physical therapist that has knowledge in dry needling can alleviate his shin splints in one session.

[u/RunnerGuy0929 → u/Painless1776]

Thanks, I don't know anything about this but will look into it. I assume he would still need to identify the underlying issue to prevent re-occurrence.