slow going
A state of particularly slow or arduous progress. It was slow going for most of the climb due to the poor weather, but we still managed to reach the summit before midday. Getting all of these data entered into the system will be slow going, but once it's done it will make the rest of the project much easier to manage.
slow going
the rate of speed when one is making slow progress. It was slow going at first, but I was able to finish the project by the weekend. Getting the heavy rocks out of the field is slow going.