Chrissie Wellington is to Mirinda Carfrae what the Road Runner is to Wile E Coyote or Collingwood is to Carlton.

Racing at the Hawaiian Ironman triathlon this year won’t be quite the same for Carfrae without the British phenomenon.

Wellington announced on January 16 that she is taking a year off from Ironman-distance racing so she can devote some energy to other interests outside the sport.

Incredibly, she has a flawless record over 13 Ironman races, including four wins at Hawaii.

Carfrae, who became the second Australian woman to win Hawaii two years ago, hopes it really is a sabbatical and not retirement for Wellington.

But she is not surprised, given the amount of work that Wellington has put into her training and racing.

“I’m a bit disappointed because I wasn’t ready for her to retire,” Carfrae said.

“When you have someone that amazing in your sport, it helps elevate everybody else and she was helping me become a better athlete.

“I hope she comes back because I’d like another shot at racing against her but, if she doesn’t, she’s done everything in the sport.”

Wellington dramatically pulled out with illness on the morning of the 2010 Hawaiian Ironman and Carfrae grasped the opportunity, racing superbly to take the title.

Last October, she pushed Wellington in the closing kilometres to finish second.

With Wellington on the sidelines, Carfrae should be the favourite for this year’s Hawaiian race on October 13.

She is definitely the woman to beat at the inaugural Ironman Asia-Pacific championships in Melbourne on March 25.

Melbourne will feature the same distances as Hawaii – a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run.

The past few weeks have been almost as big for Carfrae as they were for Wellington.

After seven years, American Siri Lindley is no longer her coach.

Carfrae insisted there was no bitterness, but that is was time for a change.

“We just decided to go our separate ways,” she said.

“I’m just looking for a new stimulus, maybe.

“We had a fantastic relationship and continue to – she’s a good friend.”

Carfrae is handling her own preparation for the Melbourne Ironman and will then look at new sources of advice.

The obvious area for improvement is her cycling, where Carfrae thinks she could improve by 10 minutes in Hawaii.

Wellington only beat her by two minutes and 49 seconds last October.

Carfrae has regularly gone to compatriot and three-time Hawaiian winner Craig Alexander for advice and may well pick his brain again.

Alexander dramatically improved his cycling last year and broke the course record for his third title.

“I’ve always looked at ‘Crowie’ and, in fact, when I moved up to Ironman, (he) was the person I went to and I spoke to him a lot about what he did,” Carfrae said.

“He definitely took a step last year and I will be definitely talking to him a lot.”