CC2640R2F: Sending Gatt Value Quickly?

Part Number:CC2640R2F

Hello,

I am trying to build my BLE application on the CC2640R2 with the simple_central and simple_peripheral examples. I would like to very quickly and reliably send a current button state on the simple_central side to the simple_peripheral side to turn on an LED. I have added this code to the SimpleCentral_handleKeys function along with supporting interrupt and callback functions to send a 1 when my button is actively pushed and then a 0 when it is released:

if (keys & KEY_SELECT_PRESSED)
  {
  switch (keyPressConnOpt)
        {
          case GATT_RW:
            if (charHdl != 0 &&
                procedureInProgress == FALSE)
            {
              uint8_t status;

                // Do a write
                attWriteReq_t req;

                req.pValue = GATT_bm_alloc(connHandle, ATT_WRITE_REQ, 1, NULL);
                if ( req.pValue != NULL )
                {
                  req.handle = charHdl;
                  req.len = 1;
                  req.pValue[0] = 1;
                  req.sig = 0;
                  req.cmd = 0;

                  status = GATT_WriteCharValue(connHandle, &req, selfEntity);
                  if ( status != SUCCESS )
                  {
                    GATT_bm_free((gattMsg_t *)&req, ATT_WRITE_REQ); //should not get here unless error
                  }
                  else
                  displayText("Write Sent 1");
                }
                else
                {
                  status = bleMemAllocError; //Should never get here unless error
                }


            break;
            }
        }
  }
  if (keys & KEY_SELECT_RELEASED)
  {
  switch (keyPressConnOpt)
        {
          case GATT_RW:
            if (charHdl != 0 &&
                procedureInProgress == FALSE)
            {
              uint8_t status;

                // Do a write
                attWriteReq_t req;

                req.pValue = GATT_bm_alloc(connHandle, ATT_WRITE_REQ, 1, NULL);
                if ( req.pValue != NULL )
                {
                  req.handle = charHdl;
                  req.len = 1;
                  req.pValue[0] = 0;
                  req.sig = 0;
                  req.cmd = 0;

                  //retry:

                  status = GATT_WriteCharValue(connHandle, &req, selfEntity);
                  if ( status != SUCCESS && status != blePending )
                  {
                    GATT_bm_free((gattMsg_t *)&req, ATT_WRITE_REQ); //should not get here unless error
                  }
                  if ( status == blePending ) //Can't accept command at this time, recommended to wait some time and retry until success
                  {
                      //goto retry;
                      displayText("BLE Pending...");
                  }
                  else
                  displayText("Write Sent 0");
                }
                else
                {
                  status = bleMemAllocError; //Should never get here unless error
                }


            break;
            }
        }
  }

This works fine when the button is pushed and held for a moment before releasing, but if it is pushed and released immediately, less than about 200ms, then the second GATT_WriteCharValue returns a 0x16 which is a blePending error. I tried implementing a simple retry system until it results in SUCCESS but it is still very slow and misses button presses and releases if rapidly pressed. Is there a better way I should be handling this to quickly send a boolean value from the central side to the peripheral side? 

Thanks!