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There's a building tension. Apparent is the chilled vapour emanating from my competitors as they do the "about to run" shuffle on the start line.

A rapid twitch of the hips.

I'm lined up for my local Saturday morning race and I'm serious. It's almost time...

Wait a second. I must adjust my tracker. So does the runner beside me.

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

During the scramble, it's hard to spot a wrist without a smartwatch on it. And this extends beyond us participants who rely on them.

We're witnessing a thriving, multi-billion pound industry. Names like Samsung Galaxy lead the market, featuring an broad range of diverse devices to fit a spectrum of lifestyles. Based on how advanced the device you choose, prices can vary between an affordable sum to thousands of pounds.

"It makes me crazy, it's impossible to switch off."

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

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

A small sample of the responses I've had from fellow device users when I inquire what they think of theirs.

The Monitoring Conundrum

My thoughts on mine? Currently, frustrating. It's indicating I'm not hitting my target, making me wonder whether the trees along my route are disrupting my GPS connection.

Millions of us strap these small devices onto our arms and use them 24/7, ostensibly comfortable with the fact they're constantly tracking us.

Long past are the days when we depended on them exclusively to give us an estimation of our pedometer reading. Currently, they can measure our sleep patterns, heart rate, oxygen saturation, our VO2 max.

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

But are they able to do what they claim to do? And are the statistics we scrutinise a true reflection of reality? Do they enhance our daily wellness, or do the avalanche of measurements and constant notifications just contribute to our sense of overwhelm?

A Love-Hate Relationship

"I become a bit fixated with mine," one user reveals.

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

Prior to discovering she could adjust the settings, her smartwatch kept telling her she was not being energetic enough. In a new phase, the watch frequently reports her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I am caring for a infant, it's unnecessary for me to be informed I've not slept," she says. "I know that perfectly well."

Is it not possible to just take it off?

"It's possible, I suppose, but I'm in this push-pull dynamic with it," she says. "I appreciate it for its workout tracking, I sometimes question whether all the other things it can now do is perhaps overkill for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Every device of smartwatch has its own unique way of tracking your health metrics and analysing your data, but the majority use sensors on the back of the watch.

They typically emit tiny, coloured LED lights onto your skin which can detect pulsation, recording your BPM. More advanced 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 ever-evolving tech could actually save lives, "detecting disease before we show symptoms", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can conduct tests like medical-grade monitoring, which continuously monitor how stable the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is irregular impulses in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not mean someone is on the verge of a cardiac event, but it can give an early warning they might be more at risk of a heart problem in the years to come.

But how to make sense of these figures is complicated. The expert worries that as additional features are incorporated, people may find it hard to fully contextualise their data.

"I have some doubts that the ability to monitor so many metrics is such a beneficial thing," he says.

A health researcher specialising in wearable tech concurs. A study into the influence of wearable tech on a specific group of individuals with health issues 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 doctor's time".

She noted a vicious circle with her patients - they spotted a alarming metric on their watch. They felt anxious. Their pulse rose. They got even more concerned. They checked again, and their anxiety went up again.

"Upon viewing stats about ourselves that we can't properly interpret then, understandably, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We look, we check again - it becomes a feedback loop."