dont worry about the reversing thing, mine is like that too. i think its just because of where the servos are positioned on the truck. to get them to do what the transmitter is telling it to do, it needs to be set in the reverse position.
as for break in, i followed the intructions in the book. let it idle through the 1st tank then let it completly cool. 2nd tank run it just a little bit at half throttle until it runs out of gas. 3rd tank the same. after that you should be good to go.
as far as fuel, i run losi nitrotane in mine. HPI reccomends the power fuel because thats their product and obviously want to sell their own stuff. just make sure whatever you run in it has a good nitro content (20% works fine) and good lubrication properties.