[3] After receiving academic and athletic scholarships, Herron attended the University of Tulsa, where she was a Top 10 Senior and earned a bachelor's degree in Exercise and Sports Science in 2005.

She stated that she found the event to be a turning point and began running longer distances on Sundays to celebrate life.

[11] Herron returned to competitive running as a road racer under the guidance of her husband, Conor Holt, a former elite runner and college coach.

[7] She attributes her success in ultrarunning to her scientific knowledge and training approach, which prioritizes short, frequent runs to accumulate high volume consistently.

[4] Herron has worked as a research assistant in bone imaging and osteoimmunology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, co-authoring several scientific papers.