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There's a nervous excitement. Apparent is the chilled vapour coming from my fellow runners as they perform the "starting line" shuffle on the beginning point.

A rapid flick of the hips.

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

Hold on. I need to start my tracker. So does the person alongside me.

The person waiting sighs. I won't start until… there! GPS ready, I'm off.

Amidst the crowd, it's challenging to spot a arm without a wearable on it. And this extends beyond us athletes who use them.

It's a thriving, multi-billion pound market. Companies like Samsung Galaxy dominate, all offering an broad range of different versions to cater to a range of needs. Based on how advanced the device you select, price tags can range from an affordable sum to thousands of pounds.

"I find it infuriating, it's impossible to switch off."

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

"Please don't notify me I've had a poor sleep."

A small sample of the comments I've had from fellow smartwatch wearers when I ask what they their opinion is on theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My feelings on my own device? Right now, irritating. It's indicating I'm not hitting my target, leading me to doubt whether the trees I'm passing under are disrupting my satellite signal.

Countless individuals of us attach these little devices onto our arms and keep them on constantly, ostensibly unconcerned with the fact they're constantly tracking us.

Long past are the days when we used them only to give us an estimation of our pedometer reading. Today, they can measure our nightly rest, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), our VO2 max.

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

But do they do what they claim to do? And are the statistics we scrutinise a accurate representation of the truth? Do they enhance our daily wellness, or do the multitude of readings and motivational messages just contribute to our sense of overwhelm?

Addiction or Aid?

"I become a bit obsessed with mine," one user admits.

While she appreciates how her device monitors her runs, she finds some of its other capabilities "daunting" at times - a feeling initially realised during a significant period.

Prior to discovering she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was being insufficiently energetic enough. In a new phase, the watch insists her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I have a six-month old, there's no point to be informed I've not slept," she says. "I know that only too well."

Is it not possible to just remove it?

"I could, I suppose, but I've got this push-pull dynamic with it," she says. "I appreciate it for its workout tracking, I just wonder whether all the other things it can now do is perhaps overkill for me."

Inside the Device

Different brands of smartwatch has its own unique way of measuring your vitals and interpreting your data, but the majority use optical sensors on the back of the watch.

They typically emit tiny, coloured LED lights onto your arm which can monitor pulsation, identifying your heartbeat. More advanced devices analyse changes in the electrical current that flows through the skin to gauge your stress levels.

The Professional Viewpoint

One expert says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the ever-evolving tech could actually aid early diagnosis, "identifying issues before we feel unwell", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "anxious healthy".

He points out that some of the latest wearables can conduct tests like electrocardiograms (ECGs), which continuously monitor how normal the heart is. They can notify if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is erratic impulses in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not automatically signal someone is imminently going to suffer a cardiac event, but it can give an advance notice they might be more susceptible of a heart problem in the future.

But how to understand these numbers is complicated. The expert worries that as more functions are introduced, people may find it hard to fully contextualise their data.

"I remain sceptical that the ability to monitor so many things is such a positive development," he says.

A clinical psychologist focusing on wearable tech concurs. Research into the effect of wearable tech on a cohort of individuals with health issues suggested a significant portion of those who were given devices to monitor their condition experienced heightened worry and were "had a higher tendency to use medical services".

She observed a cycle with her patients - they saw a worrying figure on their watch. They grew concerned. Their pulse increased. They got more worried. They checked again, and their reading rose further.

"If we see stats about ourselves that we lack context for then, naturally, we are going to want to know more," the psychologist says. "We look, we obsess - it becomes a vicious cycle."