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There's a feeling of anticipation. I can see the chilled vapour coming from my competitors as they do the "about to run" wiggle on the start line.

A quick twitch of the hips.

I'm at my local Saturday morning race and I mean business. The countdown begins...

Hold on. I have to adjust my device. As does the guy next to me.

The person in the line sighs. I won't start until… done! GPS ready, and I'm running.

During the scramble, it's difficult to see a person without a wearable on it. And it's not just us athletes who rely on them.

We're witnessing a thriving, multi-billion pound market. Names like Samsung Galaxy are prevalent, featuring an broad array of various devices to fit a variety of budgets. Depending on how high tech the device you go for, costs can range from a hundred pounds to a small fortune.

"It drives me insane, it's impossible to stop checking."

"It provides solace… It acts as a companion supporting me."

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

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

A Sea of Statistics

My current opinion on my own device? Right now, irritating. It's telling me my speed is wrong, making me wonder whether the overhead branches I'm running below are interfering with my satellite signal.

A vast number of us attach these small monitors onto our wrists and use them all day and night, seemingly unconcerned with the fact they're continuously tracking us.

Long past are the days when we used them solely to give us an estimation of our pedometer reading. Today, they can measure our nightly rest, stress levels, heart rate variability (HRV), our recovery score.

It's difficult to find a health indicator they aren't designed to measure.

But are they able to do what they say they do? And are the data points we scrutinise a true reflection of reality? Do they improve our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the avalanche of measurements and constant notifications just contribute to our sense of overwhelm?

Addiction or Aid?

"I do get a a little fixated with mine," one user reveals.

While she values how her device tracks her exercise, she finds some of its other features "overwhelming" at times - a feeling first discovered during a major life event.

Before she realised she could change its configuration, her smartwatch kept telling her she was failing to be energetic enough. Now, the watch insists her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I have a young baby, it's unnecessary for me to be told I'm tired," she says. "I'm acutely aware perfectly well."

Couldn't she just stop wearing it?

"I suppose I could, perhaps, but I've got this push-pull dynamic with it," she continues. "I appreciate it for its exercise data, but I'm unsure whether the myriad other functions it can now do is maybe too much for me."

How Do They Work?

Different brands of smartwatch has its own unique way of measuring your bodily functions and processing your data, but the most use sensors on the back of the watch.

They typically shine tiny, coloured LED lights onto your wrist which can observe blood flow, detecting your pulse rate. Higher-end devices measure changes in the electrical current that runs through the skin to assess your recovery state.

The Professional Viewpoint

A data scientist says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the rapidly advancing tech could actually save lives, "spotting abnormalities before we show symptoms", it could also turn us device users into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that some of the latest wearables can perform tests like medical-grade monitoring, which regularly monitor how stable the heart is. They can alert if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is irregular impulses in the heart causing an uneven pulse.

This does not necessarily indicate someone is on the verge of a heart attack, but it can give an advance notice they might be more susceptible of a heart problem in the years to come.

But how to interpret these numbers is not straightforward. The expert concerns that as additional features are introduced, people may find it hard to fully contextualise their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that being able to monitor so many things is such a good idea," he says.

A health researcher studying cardiology agrees. Her work into the influence of wearable tech on a set of cardiovascular patients suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their condition experienced heightened worry and were "had a higher tendency to use healthcare resources".

She identified a pattern with her patients - they saw a alarming metric on their watch. They became worried. Their BPM rose. They got more worried. They re-examined the data, and their reading went up again.

"When people are presented with stats about ourselves that we don't really understand then, understandably, we are going to want to know more," the psychologist says. "We look, we re-check - it becomes a vicious cycle."