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There's a feeling of anticipation. Apparent is the chilled vapour emanating from my fellow runners as they execute the "pre-race" shuffle on the start line.

A rapid flick of the hips.

I'm participating in my local Saturday morning race and I'm serious. Three, two, one...

Oh, hang on. I have to adjust my tracker. The same goes for the runner next to me.

The person waiting sighs. I'm not moving until… done! Connection established, I'm off.

Amidst the crowd, it's challenging to spot a wrist without a wearable on it. And it's not just us athletes who use them.

This is a explosive, multi-billion pound market. Companies like Samsung Galaxy dominate, all offering an wide array of different versions to fit a spectrum of budgets. Based on how advanced the device you choose, costs can vary between £100 to thousands of pounds.

"It makes me crazy, I'm unable to stop checking."

"It reassures me… It acts as a supporter supporting me."

"Please don't notify me I've had a restless night."

Just some of the responses I've received from like-minded smartwatch wearers when I ask what they feel about theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My feelings on mine? Right now, annoying. It's telling me I'm not hitting my target, making me wonder whether the overhead branches I'm running below are disrupting my satellite signal.

A vast number of us fasten these little devices onto our arms and wear them all day and night, ostensibly unconcerned with the fact they're continuously recording us.

A distant memory are the days when we relied on them exclusively to give us an rough count of our daily steps. Now, they can measure our sleep patterns, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), our body battery.

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

But can they do what they claim to do? And are the numbers we obsess over a accurate representation of the truth? Do they improve our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the plethora of measurements and constant notifications just add to our everyday anxiety?

A Complicated Bond

"I do get a quite preoccupied with mine," an individual confesses.

While she appreciates how her device records her workouts, she finds some of its other features "overwhelming" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a major life event.

Before she realised she could adjust the settings, her smartwatch kept telling her she was being insufficiently active enough. Now, the watch frequently reports her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I've got a young baby, I don't need to be informed my sleep was poor," she says. "That fact is perfectly well."

Couldn't she just take it off?

"I could, theoretically, but I'm in this complicated dynamic with it," she says. "I love it for its workout tracking, but I'm unsure whether the additional features it can now do is possibly excessive for me."

How Do They Work?

Every device of smartwatch has its own proprietary way of tracking your vitals and interpreting your data, but the vast bulk use sensors on the underside of the watch.

They usually project tiny, coloured LED lights onto your skin which can detect capillary action, identifying your pulse rate. Higher-end devices detect changes in the electrical current that runs through the skin to assess your stress levels.

A Fine Balance

One expert says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the continuously improving tech could potentially prevent illness, "identifying issues before we feel unwell", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "worried well".

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

This does not automatically signal someone is about to have a cardiac event, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more susceptible of a blood clot in the future.

But how to make sense of these numbers is complex. The expert fears that as more functions are introduced, people may find it hard to fully comprehend their data.

"I have some doubts that having the capacity to monitor so much data is such a beneficial thing," he says.

A professor focusing on patient behaviour echoes this sentiment. A study into the influence of wearable tech on a set of heart condition patients suggested a minority of those who were given devices to monitor their condition experienced increased anxiety and were "had a higher tendency to use doctor's time".

She identified a vicious circle with her patients - they spotted a worrying figure on their watch. They grew concerned. Their BPM increased. They got even more concerned. They looked a second time, and their reading went up again.

"When people are presented with numbers about ourselves that we lack context for then, of course, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We look, we re-check - it becomes a feedback loop."