puff along

puff along

To move or progress at a slow (possibly labored) but steady pace. Don't worry, the project is still puffing along, in spite of all the setbacks. I'd be happy to go for a run with you, as long as you don't mind me puffing along.
See also: puff
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

puff along

 
1. [for someone] to run along, puffing to breathe. Sam puffed along, jogging on his morning route. As Wally puffed along, he thought again about going on a diet.
2. [for an engine] to move along, putting out puffs of smoke or steam. The old engine puffed along, driving the small boat slowly up the river. The locomotive puffed along, not making very much headway up the hill.
See also: puff
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • plug along
  • plugging along
  • two steps forward and one step back
  • move forward
  • come hell and high water
  • come hell or high water
  • puff and pant/blow
  • one step forward, two back
  • one step forward, two steps back
  • one step forward and two steps back
References in periodicals archive
The entrainment also cools the exhaled air puff along its way.
Displacement ventilation in hospital environments
Over there, from Paris up to Brussels, I puff along on air.
Going nowhere fast
Do we want to echo the US, where hordes of chubby kids puff along the streets behind parents?
IRISH DAILY MIRROR COMMENT : We deserve schools fit for our kids
I can remember the time when every main line station that you might pass through had a little train standing in a bay platform, often just a tank engine and a couple of carriages, that would puff along to places like Fowey or Scots Gap.
Willy Poole column
You'll huff and puff along this steep 7-mile loop, but it's worth the sight and sound of the Merced River as it drops 317 feet at Vernal Fall and an awesome 594 feet at Nevada Fall.
Legend of the falls