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A sense of building tension. Visible is the frosty air coming from my rivals as they execute the "pre-race" jiggle on the start line.

A swift twitch of the hips.

I'm lined up for my local weekly parkrun event and I'm serious. The countdown begins...

Hold on. I need to start my tracker. So does the guy alongside me.

The person waiting tuts. I refuse to go until… done! Connection established, and I'm running.

During the scramble, it's difficult to see a wrist without a wearable on it. And this extends beyond us participants who wear them.

It's a booming, multi-billion pound sector. Brands like Samsung Galaxy are prevalent, each with an broad selection of different models to fit a range of budgets. Depending on how high tech the watch you select, prices can range from £100 to a significant investment.

"It makes me crazy, it's impossible to switch off."

"It comforts me… It acts as a companion supporting me."

"Stop telling me about a bad night's sleep."

A handful of the responses people have shared from other smartwatch wearers when I inquire what they their opinion is on theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My thoughts on mine? At this moment, irritating. It's telling me I'm off pace, making me wonder whether the trees along my route are blocking my satellite signal.

Countless individuals of us strap these compact monitors onto our arms and use them constantly, seemingly comfortable with the fact they're constantly monitoring us.

Long past are the days when we relied on them exclusively to give us an rough count of our step count. Today, they can analyse our sleep patterns, stress levels, heart rate variability (HRV), our VO2 max.

It's a challenge to find a bodily function they fail to monitor.

But are they able to do what they say they do? And are the numbers we scrutinise a true reflection of reality? Do they boost our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the avalanche of metrics and motivational messages just increase our daily stresses?

Addiction or Aid?

"I become a bit preoccupied with mine," an individual confesses.

While she values how her device records her runs, she finds some of its other functions "daunting" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a pregnancy.

Before she realised she could adjust the settings, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was failing to be energetic enough. Later on, the watch keeps telling her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I have a six-month old, it's unnecessary for me to be notified I've not slept," she says. "I'm acutely aware all too clearly."

Couldn't she just take it off?

"I suppose I could, theoretically, but I have this complicated dynamic with it," she continues. "I love it for its workout tracking, I sometimes question whether the myriad other functions it can now do is possibly excessive for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Different brands of smartwatch has its own novel way of monitoring your vitals and analysing your data, but the majority use optical sensors on the back of the watch.

They usually shine tiny, coloured LED lights onto your skin which can detect blood flow, identifying your pulse rate. More advanced devices measure changes in the electrical current that passes over the skin to get an idea of your stress levels.

A Fine Balance

A data scientist says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "fine balance" - while the rapidly advancing tech could potentially prevent illness, "identifying issues before we feel unwell", it could also turn us the tracked into the "anxious healthy".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can conduct tests like heart rhythm analysis, which regularly monitor how normal the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing an irregular rhythm, where there is erratic signals in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not necessarily indicate someone is on the verge of a cardiac event, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more susceptible of a heart problem in the long term.

But how to understand these numbers is complex. The expert worries that as more functions are incorporated, people may struggle to fully comprehend their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that the ability to monitor so many metrics is such a good idea," he says.

A health researcher studying cardiology concurs. Research into the effect of wearable tech on a specific group of individuals with health issues suggested a significant portion of those who were given devices to monitor their heart health experienced heightened worry and were "more inclined to use healthcare resources".

She identified a cycle with her patients - they noticed a alarming metric on their watch. They felt anxious. Their BPM increased. They got increasingly anxious. They looked a second time, and their heart rate increased again.

"Upon viewing stats about ourselves that we lack context for then, understandably, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We check, we check again - it becomes a vicious cycle."