An atmosphere of nervous excitement. Visible is the frosty air coming from my rivals as they do the "about to run" shuffle on the starting line.
A quick twitch of the hips.
I'm lined up for my local 5km community parkrun and I'm serious. It's almost time...
Wait a second. I need to adjust my device. The same goes for the runner alongside me.
The person in the line tuts. I refuse to go until… yes! Signal acquired, away I go.
Amidst the crowd, it's hard to spot a arm without a wearable on it. And this isn't only us participants who rely on them.
This is a booming, multi-billion dollar sector. Names like Apple Watch lead the market, all offering an broad array of diverse versions to fit a spectrum of budgets. Based on how advanced the watch you choose, prices can range from an affordable sum to thousands of pounds.
"I find it infuriating, I can't switch off."
"It comforts me… It's like a friend guiding me."
"Stop telling me I've experienced a restless night."
A small sample of the comments I've had from like-minded tracker enthusiasts when I inquire what they their opinion is on theirs.
My current opinion on mine? Right now, frustrating. It's indicating I'm off pace, leading me to doubt whether the trees I'm running below are blocking my satellite signal.
Countless individuals of us fasten these small gadgets onto our wrists and use them constantly, apparently comfortable with the fact they're constantly tracking us.
A distant memory are the days when we relied on them only to give us an idea of our pedometer reading. Currently, they can analyse our nightly rest, stress levels, glucose levels, our recovery score.
It's difficult to find a bodily function they aren't designed to measure.
But do they do what they say they do? And are the numbers we scrutinise a true reflection of reality? Do they enhance our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the avalanche of measurements and constant notifications just contribute to our daily stresses?
"I do get a a little fixated with mine," an individual admits.
While she appreciates how her device monitors her workouts, she finds some of its other capabilities "excessive" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a major life event.
Before she realised she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch kept telling her she was failing to be active enough. In a new phase, the watch keeps telling her she's had a restless night.
"I have a young baby, I don't need to be told my sleep was poor," she says. "I'm acutely aware all too clearly."
Why doesn't she just take it off?
"I could, theoretically, but I have this push-pull dynamic with it," she continues. "I value it for its fitness insights, I just wonder whether the myriad other functions it can now do is possibly excessive for me."
Each model of smartwatch has its own unique way of measuring your health metrics and interpreting your data, but the most use sensors on the underside of the watch.
They commonly project small, green LED lights onto your skin which can monitor blood flow, recording your pulse rate. Higher-end devices detect changes in the electrical current that passes over the skin to get an idea of your recovery state.
A professor says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the continuously improving tech could actually prevent illness, "detecting disease before we show symptoms", it could also turn us the tracked into the "anxious healthy".
He points out that some of the latest wearables can carry out tests like medical-grade monitoring, which continuously monitor how normal the heart is. They can notify if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, where there is abnormal signals in the heart causing an arrhythmia.
This does not necessarily indicate someone is on the verge of a cardiac event, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more at risk of a blood clot in the future.
But how to interpret these readings is complex. The expert concerns that as more functions are incorporated, people may struggle to fully contextualise their data.
"I have some doubts that having the capacity to monitor so many things is such a beneficial thing," he says.
A professor focusing on patient behaviour concurs. Research into the effect 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 cardiac function experienced increased anxiety and were "had a higher tendency to use medical services".
She observed a pattern with her patients - they noticed a concerning reading on their watch. They became worried. Their heart rate went up. They got increasingly anxious. They re-examined the data, and their heart rate went up again.
"If we see numbers about ourselves that we lack context for then, of course, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We look, we check again - it becomes a vicious cycle."
Elara is a passionate writer and photographer who shares insights on creativity and mindful living through engaging storytelling.
