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An atmosphere of nervous excitement. Visible is the frosty air emanating from my competitors as they execute the "pre-race" wiggle on the start line.

A quick twitch of the hips.

I'm participating in my local weekly parkrun event and I'm serious. The countdown begins...

Oh, hang on. I have to start my device. So does the guy alongside me.

The person waiting expresses impatience. I won't start until… there! GPS ready, away I go.

Amidst the crowd, it's challenging to see a person without a smartwatch on it. And it's not just us participants who rely on them.

It's a booming, massive industry. Brands like Apple Watch lead the market, each with an broad range of different models to suit a spectrum of lifestyles. According to how feature-packed the model you select, price tags can range from £100 to a small fortune.

"It drives me insane, it's impossible to switch off."

"It provides solace… It's like a companion guiding me."

"I wish it wouldn't say I've experienced a bad night's sleep."

Just some of the reactions I've had from fellow device users when I inquire what they think of theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My feelings on mine? At this moment, irritating. It's telling me I'm not hitting my target, making me wonder whether the foliage along my route are blocking my GPS connection.

A vast number of us fasten these little monitors onto our wrists and keep them on 24/7, seemingly at ease with the fact they're perpetually recording us.

Gone are the days when we depended on them exclusively to give us an estimation of our step count. Currently, they can measure our sleep patterns, stress levels, heart rate variability (HRV), our body battery.

It's difficult to find a bodily function they don't track.

But are they able to do what they advertise? And are the data points we analyse a true reflection of reality? Do they improve our overall health, or do the multitude of measurements and cheerleading alerts just increase our daily stresses?

A Complicated Bond

"I find myself getting a bit obsessed with mine," one user confesses.

While she loves how her device monitors her workouts, she finds some of its other functions "overwhelming" at times - a feeling first discovered during a major life event.

Until she found out she could change its configuration, her smartwatch constantly alerted her she was not being energetic enough. Later on, the watch keeps telling her she's had a restless night.

"I am caring for a six-month old, I don't need to be told I'm tired," she says. "I'm acutely aware all too clearly."

Why doesn't she just remove it?

"I could, theoretically, but I've got this push-pull dynamic with it," she continues. "I love it for its fitness insights, I sometimes question whether all the other things it can now do is possibly excessive for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Every device of smartwatch has its own novel way of measuring your vitals and analysing your data, but the majority use sensors on the reverse of the watch.

They commonly emit tiny, coloured LED lights onto your arm which can observe blood flow, detecting your pulse rate. Higher-end devices detect changes in the electrical current that runs through the skin to gauge your recovery state.

A Fine Balance

One expert says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the ever-evolving tech could potentially aid early diagnosis, "identifying issues before we notice anything", it could also turn us the tracked into the "anxious healthy".

He points out that some of the latest wearables can carry out tests like electrocardiograms (ECGs), which regularly monitor how normal the heart is. They can alert if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, where there is irregular electrical activity in the heart causing an irregular heartbeat.

This does not mean someone is about to have a heart attack, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more vulnerable of a stroke in the years to come.

But how to understand these numbers is complex. The expert concerns that as more functions are incorporated, people may find it hard to fully understand their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that the ability to monitor so many things is such a beneficial thing," he says.

A professor studying cardiology agrees. A study into the effect of wearable tech on a cohort of heart condition patients suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their cardiac function experienced greater stress and were "more inclined to use doctor's time".

She noted a vicious circle with her patients - they saw a alarming metric on their watch. They felt anxious. Their pulse went up. They got more worried. They re-examined the data, and their heart rate went up again.

"If we see data about ourselves that we can't properly interpret then, of course, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We look, we obsess - it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."