I know, I was one of those guys in "no man's land" & so the question is how do you make a living at it? The answer is....drumroll....you don't. You run the best you can and have fun with it, period. The guys who ran 2:15-2:20 in the 1983 Boston Marathon were doing the same thing, just at a different level. They were doing the best they could and hoping to get free shoes at best. Times have changed.
My point about the Hanson's wasn't to be rude, but instead to show that financially a 2:14-2:16 guy today can be at it for 8 bloody years and still get $$$ backing from housing to food to a job to travel to and from races, etc..... Honestly, they are lucky, very lucky indeed.
Kyle O'Brien was bragging a year or two ago on this site on how hard that he was working his ass off, as if he was the only guy doing it. Most of those guys who ran in the 1983 Boston Marathon didn't have the financial backing that he had and most of those guys had "REAL JOBS"! I remember a marathoner named Phil Coppess from the 80's who was a factory worker and he ran just over 2:10 at Twin Cities! Try that Kyle! Kyle was too "I deserve/earned this" to realize just how lucky he was to even have a shot at being on a team like that and the opportunity that he was given. Take note Kyle, every runner I knew worked their ass off, not just you.