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There's a feeling of anticipation. Visible is the frosty air emanating from my rivals as they perform the "starting line" wiggle on the start line.

A quick flick of the hips.

I'm lined up for my local 5km community parkrun and I'm focused. The countdown begins...

Wait a second. I have to start my tracker. So does the runner alongside me.

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

In the mele, it's difficult to find a arm without a wearable on it. And this extends beyond us athletes who rely on them.

It's a thriving, multi-billion dollar sector. Companies like Garmin dominate, featuring an broad array of different versions to cater to a range of budgets. Based on how advanced the device you select, price tags can range from a hundred pounds to thousands of pounds.

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

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

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

A handful of the reactions I've had from fellow tracker enthusiasts when I question what they their opinion is on theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on mine? Currently, annoying. It's telling me I'm off pace, leading me to doubt whether the foliage I'm passing under are blocking my location tracking.

Countless individuals of us strap these compact gadgets onto our arms and use them constantly, apparently at ease with the fact they're continuously tracking us.

Gone are the days when we relied on them only to give us an idea of our daily steps. Today, they can measure our sleep quality, heart rate, glucose levels, our body battery.

It's difficult to find a health indicator they don't track.

But can they do what they say they do? And are the numbers we analyse a accurate representation of reality? Do they boost our daily wellness, or do the multitude of measurements and cheerleading alerts just contribute to our sense of overwhelm?

A Complicated Bond

"I find myself getting a quite preoccupied with mine," a wearer admits.

While she appreciates how her device records her workouts, she finds some of its other functions "overwhelming" at times - a feeling initially realised during a pregnancy.

Before she realised she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was not being active enough. Now, the watch frequently reports her she's had a restless night.

"I've got a young baby, there's no point to be notified my sleep was poor," she says. "That fact is perfectly well."

Why doesn't she just stop wearing it?

"I suppose I could, I suppose, but I'm in this love-hate relationship with it," she continues. "I appreciate it for its workout tracking, but I'm unsure whether the myriad other functions it can now do is maybe too much for me."

Inside the Device

Each model of smartwatch has its own unique way of tracking your vitals and processing your data, but the most use optical sensors on the underside of the watch.

They typically emit small, green LED lights onto your wrist which can monitor pulsation, detecting your heartbeat. Higher-end devices measure changes in the skin conductance that passes over the skin to assess your stress levels.

Expert Perspectives

One expert says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "fine balance" - while the rapidly advancing tech could potentially save lives, "detecting disease before we show symptoms", it could also turn us device users into the "worried well".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can perform tests like electrocardiograms (ECGs), which constantly monitor how stable the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing an irregular rhythm, where there is abnormal electrical activity in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not mean someone is on the verge of a cardiac event, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more at risk of a heart problem in the future.

But how to interpret these readings is complex. The expert concerns that as more functions are incorporated, people may not be able to fully understand 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 focusing on wearable tech concurs. Research into the impact of wearable tech on a set of heart condition patients suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their condition experienced increased anxiety and were "far more likely to use medical services".

She identified a pattern with her patients - they noticed a concerning reading on their watch. They became worried. Their BPM increased. They got increasingly anxious. They re-examined the data, and their reading rose further.

"When people are presented with numbers about ourselves that we can't properly interpret then, understandably, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We look, we re-check - it becomes a vicious cycle."