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There's a building tension. I can see the chilled vapour coming from my fellow runners as they perform the "about to run" shuffle on the starting line.

A swift flick of the hips.

I'm participating in my local weekly parkrun event and I'm focused. It's almost time...

Wait a second. I must sort my watch. As does the runner next to me.

The person behind us sighs. I won't start until… there! GPS ready, and I'm running.

In the mele, it's difficult to find a arm without a wearable on it. And it's not just us runners who rely on them.

We're witnessing a explosive, multi-billion pound sector. Names like Garmin are prevalent, each with an extensive array of different models to fit a variety of lifestyles. Depending on how high tech the device you select, costs can vary between a hundred pounds to a significant investment.

"I find it infuriating, I can't stop checking."

"It comforts me… It acts as a supporter guiding me."

"I wish it wouldn't say I've experienced a poor sleep."

A small sample of the responses I've received from like-minded smartwatch wearers when I question what they their opinion is on theirs.

A Sea of Statistics

My feelings on mine? At this moment, irritating. It's telling me I'm off pace, leading me to doubt whether the foliage along my route are interfering with my location tracking.

A vast number of us fasten these compact monitors onto our arms and wear them constantly, seemingly comfortable with the fact they're perpetually recording us.

A distant memory are the days when we relied on them only to give us an idea of our step count. Now, they can track our sleep patterns, stress levels, glucose levels, our body battery.

It's difficult to find a bodily function they aren't designed to measure.

But do they do what they claim to do? And are the numbers we analyse a accurate representation of reality? Do they enhance our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the avalanche of readings and constant notifications just increase our daily stresses?

A Love-Hate Relationship

"I do get a quite obsessed with mine," an individual admits.

While she values how her device monitors her exercise, she finds some of its other functions "excessive" at times - a feeling initially realised during a major life event.

Prior to discovering she could change its configuration, her smartwatch kept telling her she was failing to be productive enough. Now, the watch frequently reports her she's had a restless night.

"I have a six-month old, I don't need to be notified I've not slept," she says. "That fact is perfectly well."

Why doesn't she just take it off?

"I could, I suppose, but I've got this push-pull dynamic with it," she says. "I value it for its workout tracking, but I'm unsure whether the myriad other functions it can now do is perhaps overkill for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Every device of smartwatch has its own novel way of monitoring your vitals and processing your data, but the vast bulk use sensors on the underside of the watch.

They typically project small, green LED lights onto your arm which can observe blood flow, detecting your BPM. Higher-end devices measure changes in the electrical current that passes over the skin to gauge your recovery state.

The Professional Viewpoint

A professor says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "fine balance" - while the continuously improving tech could realistically prevent illness, "spotting abnormalities before we feel unwell", it could also turn us the tracked into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that newer wearables can carry out tests like electrocardiograms (ECGs), which constantly monitor how stable the heart is. They can alert if someone is experiencing an irregular rhythm, where there is erratic impulses in the heart causing an irregular heartbeat.

This does not mean someone is imminently going to suffer a heart attack, but it can give an advance notice they might be more susceptible of a blood clot in the years to come.

But how to interpret these numbers is complex. The expert worries that as additional features are added, people may struggle to fully contextualise their data.

"I remain sceptical that having the capacity to monitor so many things is such a beneficial thing," he says.

A health researcher studying patient behaviour concurs. Her work into the influence of wearable tech on a cohort of cardiovascular patients suggested a minority of those who were given devices to monitor their heart health experienced increased anxiety and were "far more likely to use doctor's time".

She observed a cycle with her patients - they spotted a alarming metric on their watch. They felt anxious. Their BPM increased. They got increasingly anxious. They looked a second time, and their anxiety rose further.

"Upon viewing stats about ourselves that we lack context for then, naturally, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We monitor, we re-check - it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."