Yeah that makes sense, instead of resetting the timer I was thinking more like... if you reach the 50% checkpoint with only 6 seconds left, then each time you respawn there, you have only 6 seconds. This could maybe recreate the fun you had in the development stage when you were able to start from any section, while also not trivializing the point of the game. Then of course eventually the player would want to go back and reset to do the first bits faster and get more than 6 seconds at that 50% checkpoint... I dunno if that makes sense, and maybe it's a terrible idea hah.
I also left level design way, way on the backburner. My current level in my game is what I threw together in 45 minutes on day 2 and said "I will fix this jank later"... never happened, lol. I totally get it
Still, this is a good game and a great start to game dev, nice job!