I've recorded a run multiple times but the one I'm happy with turned out to freeze for a few seconds while audio is still normal, so I thought it would still be fine to submit since the mod team that reviews each submission is always on top of it but wasn't sure. I will probably just submit it anyway and if it doesn't get accepted ill record another.

Depends on the mods. Go ahead and submit it; there’s no reason not to.

Also when trying to get the times without load times does that only mean literal loading times or loading and the time choosing the next mission, like in a full tutorial run?

that youll have to ask in the games own forum or discord

alright, thank you!