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A sense of feeling of anticipation. I can see the frosty air exhaled by my rivals as they execute the "starting line" jiggle on the beginning point.

A swift movement of the hips.

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

Hold on. I need to sort my watch. So does the runner beside me.

The person behind us sighs. I'm not moving until… done! Connection established, away I go.

During the scramble, it's difficult to find a person without a wearable on it. And this isn't only us runners who rely on them.

It's a thriving, massive sector. Names like Samsung Galaxy are prevalent, featuring an wide array of various devices to suit a spectrum of needs. Depending on how high tech the watch you select, price tags can start from a hundred pounds to a small fortune.

"It drives me insane, I'm unable to stop checking."

"It reassures me… It's like a friend encouraging me."

"I wish it wouldn't say I've experienced a restless night."

A small sample of the comments people have shared from other tracker enthusiasts when I inquire what they their opinion is on theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My feelings on my own device? Currently, frustrating. It's telling me I'm off pace, leading me to doubt whether the foliage I'm passing under are disrupting my satellite signal.

Countless individuals of us attach these compact devices onto our wrists and use them 24/7, apparently at ease with the fact they're perpetually recording us.

A distant memory are the days when we relied on them exclusively to give us an estimation of our pedometer reading. Today, they can track our sleep patterns, stress levels, glucose levels, our VO2 max.

It's a challenge to find a physical metric they aren't designed to measure.

But can they do what they advertise? And are the numbers we scrutinise a true reflection of the truth? Do they improve our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the avalanche of readings and motivational messages just add to our daily stresses?

A Love-Hate Relationship

"I do get a bit fixated with mine," an individual admits.

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

Before she realised she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch constantly alerted her she was not being active enough. Later on, the watch insists her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I've got a young baby, I don't need to be notified I'm tired," she says. "I know that perfectly well."

Why doesn't she just stop wearing it?

"It's possible, perhaps, but I have this push-pull dynamic with it," she says. "I love it for its exercise data, I just wonder whether the additional features it can now do is perhaps excessive for me."

Inside the Device

Every device of smartwatch has its own unique way of measuring your bodily functions and analysing your data, but the vast bulk use detectors on the underside of the watch.

They typically shine minute LED lights onto your wrist which can observe blood flow, identifying your pulse rate. Sophisticated devices detect changes in the electrical current that runs through the skin to get an idea of your nervous system activity.

The Professional Viewpoint

One expert says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "fine balance" - while the continuously improving tech could actually save lives, "identifying issues before we notice anything", it could also turn us device users into the "anxious healthy".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can conduct tests like heart rhythm analysis, which continuously monitor how healthy the heart is. They can notify if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is irregular signals in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not mean someone is on the verge of a cardiac event, but it can give an advance notice they might be more susceptible of a blood clot in the years to come.

But how to understand these numbers is not straightforward. The expert worries that as additional features are added, people may struggle to fully comprehend their data.

"I have some doubts that the ability to monitor so much data is such a good idea," he says.

A health researcher specialising in patient behaviour concurs. Research into the impact of wearable tech on a specific group of cardiovascular patients suggested a significant portion of those who were given devices to monitor their heart health experienced greater stress and were "more inclined to use doctor's time".

She observed a vicious circle with her patients - they saw a alarming metric on their watch. They grew concerned. Their heart rate went up. They got even more concerned. They checked again, and their heart rate went up again.

"If we see data about ourselves that we lack context for then, naturally, we are going to want to know more," the psychologist says. "We monitor, we re-check - it becomes a feedback loop."