Rough start

Tournament: $30+$3 SNG
Finish: 7 of 9
Hands I'd like to have back: All of 'em. Well, not quite, but I lost all four pots I played, and that was that.
Before I dive into analyzing this tournament, I should note that I'm reading "Sit 'n Go Strategy" by Collin Moshman, a well-regarded primer that deals exclusively with single-table SNG's. I've been playing poorly of late, and I'm looking to refine my fundamentals a bit.
First hand I played, with blinds 10-20, I got AKo in early position. The player UTG (under the gun) raises to 60, and I flat-call, mindful of Moshman's advice to keep pots small during the early blind levels. There are two other callers, and the flop came all clubs - I have the ace of clubs. Initial raiser bets 100, I call. Turn is a blank, check-check. River also misses me, I fold to his bet.
I didn't win the pot, but I feel I played the hand well, and probably avoided losing more chips than I might have.
Second level, blinds 15-30, I have Ac7c in the small blind. Hijack seat min-raises to 60, and cutoff seat calls. I fold, ignoring favourable pot odds, because I'm determined to avoid sticky situations in the early levels, plus I'd have to play the rest of the hand out of position. Flop comes A-7-7. I'm naturally devastated. Two players get all their chips in by the river - one holding A9, and the big blind holding 72. Ugh. I think my reasoning for folding was sound, but it's sure devastating when you see the flop come like that.
A couple levels later, blinds 25-50, I raised to 150 with Ac8c. The cutoff calls, and the short-stacked big blind moves in for 250 more. Getting 3-to-1 on my money, I call. So does the cutoff. Flop misses me, and we both check. Turn is an ace, and I check for two reasons - I've got a weak ace, and I would hate to push the other active player out of the pot and miss an opportunity to knock a player out. At any rate, the river is the 10c, which puts a possible straight on the board (A-J-T-x-x). I check, and the other active player mercifully checks behind, showing KQ for the nut straight, and collects the 1,250 pot. In retrospect, not betting the turn was regrettable, but my biggest mistake was probably raising preflop - building a big pot without a big hand. For what it's worth, the small blind had 77.
Now I'm short-stacked with 730. The hijack raises to 150, and I call with 8c8s. The small blind calls as well, and we see an all-spade flop of 9-6-2. It's a decent flop for mid-pair and a small flush draw, and when it's checked to me, and I move all in with a pot-sized bet of 550. The small blind snap-calls with the flush (JsQs), and I'm done.
What have I learned? Well, from now on I'll summarize fewer hands in these recaps. Beyond that, I think the mistakes speak for themselves. On to the next one.