Welcome, Tater. You've
Welcome, Tater. You've already gotten lots of good advice. I switched from running 30 miles a week of hard-heel-striking, long-striding, fast-moving shod running to BFR after 25 years of that process left me without any cartilege in my right hip.
I didn't listen to these expertly experienced folks, so I did TMTS and bought myself a stress fracture in the ball of my left foot about 6 weeks into the BFR process. Now I know you will probably do like I did and think, "I'm a strong runner - I'm different - this won't apply to me." Unfortunately it will, and I hope you catch it soon enough to keep from injuring yourself.
Start purely barefoot, go slowly, and I would recommend starting on concrete. It seems to be the best surface to begin conditioning the soles of your feet healthily without pain or injury. And going BF on a hard, slightly abrasive surface will ensure that you learn your form correctly, as it hurts to get any part of it wrong, whether that is scuffing your feet, heel striking, pushing off with your toes, or anything other than relaxedly lifting your feet and setting them down. When they touch the ground, they'll probably touch first on the outside edge of the ball of your feet; just relax and let your natural suspension set them down gently, including setting your heel all the way down gently. When I started I was running almost as if sprinting - staying on my toes and the balls of my feet. This produces calves that are as tight as banjo strings - not good, and certainly not comfortable. Relax your lower legs, lean forward slightly from your hips and let gravity pull you along gently, lift and gently place your feet on the ground using a short, quick stride (about 200 steps per minute), and enjoy!
No more than 1/2 mile a day, 3 days a week, with a day off in between each run. You can add perhaps as much as 1/4 mile per week to your BF distance, but listen closely to the feedback your feet and lower legs give you. Back off if something hurts.
Here's the controversial part. If I could do this again, I would keep running shod (which shouldn't be a problem for you, as you are not injured) on my between-barefoot days, so I could keep getting in at least 3 good runs a week and still have one complete rest day. I hurt myself by transitioning into VFFs (Vibram Five Fingers KSOs) which let me run faster and further than my bare feet would have more wisely done. VFFs are great tools, but I misused them because they allowed me to go faster and further. Unfortunately the price for that extra distance and speed, for which my feet and lower legs were not yet ready, was the stress fracture.
Some folks will tell you that you have totally go cold turkey. As you are uninjured and now forewarned about trying to switch to a midfoot strike too quickly, whether that's via VFFs or using a treadmill to reduce impact, or even trying to learn a midfoot strike in traditional cushiony running shoes, I think you can pull this off. Just do all of your midfoot strike running BF until you can build up some more mileage. Then you can start to alter the rest of the program.
Once you've gotten a couple months of BFR under your belt, the process should be solidly committed to muscle memory, which should allow you to run on softer surfaces or in shoes (minimal or traditional) without losing good form. It should also have built up your lower leg and foot musculature and connecting tissues to the point where they are strong enough to handle a full-time adoption of mid-foot strike, even in Nikes or New Balances if you decide to keep running in them. Just don't get complacent or you'll find yourself reverting to bad form and possibly injuring yourself.
Best of luck with this life change.
Phil