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An atmosphere of building tension. Apparent is the cold breath emanating from my competitors as they do the "about to run" jiggle on the start line.

A quick flick of the hips.

I'm participating in my local weekly parkrun event and I mean business. Three, two, one...

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

The person waiting tuts. I refuse to go until… yes! Signal acquired, and I'm running.

Amidst the crowd, it's hard to see a person without a smartwatch on it. And this isn't only us runners who rely on them.

It's a booming, multi-billion pound sector. Brands like Garmin lead the market, featuring an broad selection of different devices to fit a variety of budgets. According to how feature-packed the watch you select, price tags can range from an affordable sum to a significant investment.

"I find it infuriating, it's impossible to stop checking."

"It comforts me… It feels like a friend encouraging me."

"Stop telling me I've had a restless night."

Just some of the responses I've received from other smartwatch wearers when I question what they feel about theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on my own device? At this moment, irritating. It's telling me my speed is wrong, causing me to question whether the overhead branches I'm passing under are interfering with my satellite signal.

A vast number of us strap these little devices onto our arms and wear them constantly, apparently unconcerned with the fact they're constantly monitoring us.

Long past are the days when we used them solely to give us an idea of our daily steps. Now, they can track our sleep patterns, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, our VO2 max.

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

But can they do what they say they do? And are the data points we obsess over a true reflection of the truth? Do they enhance our overall health, or do the avalanche of readings and cheerleading alerts just increase our sense of overwhelm?

A Complicated Bond

"I find myself getting a quite fixated with mine," one user confesses.

While she appreciates how her device monitors her workouts, she finds some of its other features "daunting" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a significant period.

Until she found out she could adjust the settings, her smartwatch kept telling her she was being insufficiently productive enough. In a new phase, the watch keeps telling her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I am caring for a young baby, I don't need to be notified I've not slept," she says. "I know that all too clearly."

Couldn't she just stop wearing it?

"I could, I suppose, but I'm in this complicated dynamic with it," she says. "I appreciate it for its fitness insights, but I'm unsure whether all the other things it can now do is maybe too much for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Each model of smartwatch has its own proprietary way of measuring your health metrics and analysing your data, but the vast bulk use detectors on the reverse of the watch.

They typically emit tiny, coloured LED lights onto your arm which can detect blood flow, detecting your heartbeat. Sophisticated devices analyse changes in the skin conductance that passes over the skin to gauge your recovery state.

The Professional Viewpoint

One expert says that overall for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the rapidly advancing tech could actually aid early diagnosis, "identifying issues before we notice anything", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can carry out tests like heart rhythm analysis, which continuously monitor how stable the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing an irregular rhythm, where there is abnormal impulses in the heart causing an irregular heartbeat.

This does not necessarily indicate 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 understand these figures is not straightforward. The expert concerns that as further capabilities are introduced, people may not be able to fully contextualise their data.

"I have some doubts that having the capacity to monitor so many things is such a positive development," he says.

A clinical psychologist focusing on cardiology echoes this sentiment. Her work into the influence of wearable tech on a specific group of cardiovascular patients suggested a significant portion of those who were given devices to monitor their condition experienced greater stress and were "had a higher tendency to use doctor's time".

She noted a pattern with her patients - they saw a worrying figure on their watch. They felt anxious. Their pulse went up. They got even more concerned. They re-examined the data, and their anxiety went up again.

"Upon viewing numbers about ourselves that we don't really understand then, naturally, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We check, we check again - it becomes a vicious cycle."