I don't know if I would call it a race, but I don't know when I might take my next drink and I don't want to find out. I took the steps in 3 months, and I can't fathom being on step 4 for 6 months. If I happened to be sober at the end of those 6 months I would be stark raving sober walking around for that long after stirring up 140 resentments in my head without doing the rest of the steps.
The big book gives very clear directions on when to do the next step. Obviously I think you can tell that I am of the opinion that the steps should be worked without delay, especially if newly sober and it's your first time through them. Either you are "ready to take certain steps" or you're not. If you have vowed to never take step 9 then I would say you definitely haven't completed step 3. If you haven't done a proper step 3 then you may want to look at step 1 and 2.
The steps are really a simple process. It's us alcoholics that make it complicated. Notice I didn't say an easy process, but very simple if you just follow the directions in the BB. The steps are a lifetime process. If you want to go through them in-depth you can always do them again. But the first time through them I suggest just doing each step to the best of your ability (at the time) and then do the next one immediately, not next month.
I can only tell you what has worked for me, and the process I suggest above worked for me. I have tried going through them slowly and I ran into the same problem DB. I eventually gave up on them and just did the "don't drink and go to meetings" method. That worked for awhile but I eventually stopped doing the "go to meetings" parts and I eventually drank again.