Running faster

I had arthroscopic surgery on my ankle last year (summer 2016). I can run fine with it, but I just don't seem to have the speed I used to. I don't really bother me when I run, so I don't think the surgery is impacting my running pace. Sometimes I think that it's just a function of getting older. Anyhow, just wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience or any advice to give

You definitely slow down with age, there is no doubt about that. But that doesn't mean you "have" to slow down at a set rate. The older you get, the more important it is to strengthen the muscles that are weakening, and becoming inevitably less active over time. I don't know how old you are, but it's still important no matter the age.

Do you weigh more now, than you did pre-surgery? That would be a strong factor in you slowing down, and just going through any type of invasive procedure can have consequences to speed and strength, even if you don't necessarily feel it. Regardless, you should work out and also mix up your running.

You should strength train your legs. Your ankles, ham-strings, quadriceps are all important muscles and areas to strengthen. In addition to that, you should obviously run, and walk a fast pace as well. Just jogging/running a constant pace won't necessarily make you faster, but strides, and hill-sprints will.

I've never found anything that increased my speed as much as doing sprints, strides, and hill-sprints. Of course these can be dangerous to do with improper form, and even proper form. You have to keep an eye on yourself and really be aware of how you're feeling every step of the way when you're doing more high-impact stress, and more high-intensity workouts. But if you want to see your speed come back, sprints, strides, and up-hill sprints would do the magic, in addition to strengthening your leg and ankle muscles.

Also, don't underestimate the power of strengthening your core. Any workout you can do that you feel comfortable doing that will creates a stronger core, benefits the whole body and is proven to improve running speed as well. I'd recommend if you're walking or having a nice jog, you mix strides into it. The length and duration of the strides differs from person to person, but I'd start off with slowly increasing to about 95% of your max speed within thirty seconds, and run that speed for about 5-10 seconds before slowing down to a walking pace. Then do it again, and again. You should be able to crank out five solid strides at least, each time in the mix of a walk or a run.

(Of course the #1 thing is to stay safe and be aware of how you feel. Any atypical pains that arise, you should stop immediately and go easy on yourself. I'm sure you're knowledgeable enough of your own body to tell what type of pain is good or bad.)

As for hill-sprints? It's self explanatory. Find yourself a good hill, maybe 50-100 feet and at an angle that gets you a little winded just walking up it. Just sprint up, and walk down. Sprint up, and walk down. Do this a few times a week, and it will not only help strengthen your muscles but just help with the explosiveness in your legs and feet to bring that speed back. Same thing with regular sprints, just find a nice open area where you won't twist an ankle, and sprint. 50-100 yards I'd say. Sprint one way, walk back. A minute between each sprint is a good recovery time, and you should focus on 8-12 sprints if you can. (But any number at the start is good.)

And stretch! Do some minor stretches before you get warmed up, just to loosen up a little bit. But make sure you're nice and warmed up after these workouts before you dig deep in your stretching. You don't want to cold stretch. And stretching in itself will make you more flexible, help prevent injury, and also help improve your speed again.

Plenty of good articles online you can find that will help you sort out a good workout for yourself, but the best way is just to get out there and see what you feel comfortable with, pushing your limits to.

Stay safe, and good luck. Hope you get your speed back! (But if not, it's not the end of the world. Just run and have fun!)