Injury-Avoidance Habits for First-Time Marathoners and Half-Marathoners - Ready to Race, #2

From the Foreword by John Loftus, Ultra-marathoner and Safety Consultant: Why would someone write a running / walking book about SAFETY - managing the unforeseen, the training route, weather, gear, and personal security, about INJURY AVOIDANCE - minimizing hurt and pain to our body and mind and CREATING GOOD HABITS so that we do "the right thing" unconsciously? The reality is, whether at work, at home, or pursuing our leisure passions, such as running and walking, we want to be happy and successful as we journey towards and achieve our goals, and this includes being incident- and injury-free.
Just get out there, and do it! It's natural. That's what I was told years ago when I first started to run and walk faster and further than I had ever done before. It started with just one mile (1.6K), and today my real passion is endurance-walking races (62 miles / 100K), and, when I'm not racing, I'm training and cross-training. I suffered more pain, injury, and mental anguish working my way from 1 mile to a half-marathon and marathons than I have over this past 10 years of doing ultra-marathons.
Why? Knowledge, or a lack there of. ...