Started and making good headway: by hitting one of his rare home runs, and I thought we were off and running
[1960s+ Horse racing; they're off! to signal the start of a race is found by 1833]
Idioms and Phrases with off and running
off and running
Making a good start, progressing well, as in After the first episode the new soap opera was off and running. Originating in horse racing, as the traditional announcement at the beginning of a race (“They're off and running”), this phrase began to be used more broadly in the second half of the 1900s.